The Princeton Seminary Bulletin

The Princeton Seminary Bulletin

Vol. XL PRINCETON, N.J, WINTER 1946 No. 3

PRINCETON JUNCTION

A S every alumnus of the Seminary knows, Princeton Junction is located three
-*^miles from Princeton. In order to go by rail from Princeton to any point
north, south, east or west, the traveller must take the “dinky” to Princeton Junc-
tion and then wait for his train. Fortunately these waiting periods are usually
not very long, as the main line trains of the Pennsylvania Railroad are many in
number, and many of them stop. Nevertheless, every Princeton alumnus has
spent countless hours of his life at Princeton Junction.

One of our distinguished alumni, Doctor Silas Evans of the Class of 1901,
was President for many years of Ripon College, an educational institution of
real distinction located about seventy-five miles northwest of Milwaukee, Wis-
consin. To get about the state from Ripon one had to go to Horicon Junction and
wait interminably. On one occasion President Evans remarked that he had figured
out that he had spent one-eighth of his life in Horicon Junction!

That is a dismal thought — if you have ever seen Horicon Junction! Princeton
Junction is bad enough, but Horicon Junction (at least when I saw it in 1915)
was really depressing. A tiny waiting room — drab, cheerless, dingy; outside the
station one saw only railroad tracks and three forlorn houses. In prospect one
would feel dreary indeed if he were sentenced to spend one-eighth of his life in
Horicon Junction.

But not Silas Evans! He made a point of getting acquainted with his fellow
travellers, or fellow exiles, realizing that “there is nothing so interesting in life
as life itself.” He learned of their interests, their hopes, their fears, their prob-
lems. He met some of the most interesting people in the world at Horicon Junc-
tion! He got some of his best ideas, he did some of his best counselling (an art
which is at its best when one is unhurried and unharried) in Horicon Junction.
He carried into actual practice a “Sermon to Travellers” written by a homespun
poet many years ago. I can only recall snatches of it :

“Don’t be a clam when you travel,

Don’t sit like a mute in your seat,

There’s a heap of good tales will unravel
If you chat with the ones that you meet.

For you’ll benefit if
You don’t act like a stiff

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THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

With the folks that you meet on the cars.
Or at Princeton Junction!

When Dr. Evans, on occasions, found no one at Horicon Junction, he was
never lonely or restless for he had in his pocket or grip dissertations by Plato or
Aristotle or Saint Paul. With no telephones or doorbells to answer, no appoint-
ments to fulfill, no meetings to attend, no organizations to address, he could
quietly concentrate, and commune with the great minds of all time. He did some
of his best thinking, some of his best writing, in Horicon Junction! And he did
it all on marginal time, time he might otherwise have wasted.

Perhaps the greatest conflict in the minister’s life is his fight for time to study.
When a student in a Seminary he is taught by professors speaking with a straight
face, that when he becomes pastor of a church he must go to his study every morn-
ing at eight and remain there in uninterrupted study until twelve or one o’clock.
That is the ideal, and congregations should cooperate more in making this pos-
sible for the ministers. But how hard it is to carry through such a program!
And how difficult to find a stretch of time for the reading of a book ! Those long
stretches of time never come, except perhaps between midnight and two or three
in the morning, when every God fearing man ought to be asleep. When, then,
shall a man do the reading he ought to do? He can do it only on marginal time.

Doctor Robert E. Speer served as Secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions
of our Church for almost fifty years. During that time he commuted daily to
New York City. His life was a full one. He had little leisure for reading. How
was he able, then, through all those years, to read and really read, on the average
of one hundred and fifty worthwhile books a year? By merely making good use
of odd moments. By always having some good reading with him on the com-
muter’s train, or at Horicon Junction, or at Princeton Junction.

We are always looking forward to that excellent sermon or article we are
going to write when we have the time. We are forever promising ourselves to
write that letter, now six months overdue, when the favorable opportunity pre-
sents itself. We feel quite righteous as we contemplate the great good we are
going to do when the time is propitious and we get into more congenial surround-
ings. “Oh, the things I will do in my next charge !” Let us start doing them now,
on the time we spend in Horicon Junction.

E.H.R.

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

Edward H. Roberts, Editor

Edward J. Jurji, Book Review Editor

Committee on Publications

Kenneth S. Gapp
Edward J. Jurji

John A. Mackay

Edward H. Roberts

Bruce M. Metzger
Lefferts A. Loetscher
Edna Hatfield
Hugh T. Kerr, Chairman

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

3

THE CHURCH, PREACHING, AND THEOLOGY

Bela Vasady

T HE deepest meaning of a commence-
ment day is paradoxical. The mo-
ments of both attainment and a new be-
ginning are represented therein. And it
is my belief that if we were to peer into
the depths of the life of a Christian man,
and especially that of a preacher and theo-
logian, we would discover that basically
it is nothing more than an unceasing se-
ries of commencement days. A Christian
always realizes that of his own strength
he can no more make amends for his past
shortcomings, that his present status is
reached only through repentance, and that
he is but a pilgrim, a homo viator, chris-
tianus designatus, a man who has not yet
attained his goal but, making use of the
resources of the grace of God, is ever
striving for perfection. The day of his
final salvation is yet in the offing. That is
the reason why he must make new deci-
sions again and again, “forgetting those
things that are behind, and reaching forth
unto those things which are before,” and
“press toward the mark for the prize of
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,”
Phil. 3:13. Thus in the pattern of the
Christian mode of living and thinking the
Church, preaching, and theology equally
become an endless series of commence-
ment days.

Let us consider first the Church. “Birds
of a feather flock together,” says an old
proverb. I, however, believe that a Swiss
theologian saw more deeply when he said,
“Tell me what you think of the Church
and I shall tell you who you are.” For it
is not everyone who lives within the
Church, not everyone who goes to Church,
who thinks or feels properly about that in-
stitution. There are those who consider

the Church simply as a social club where
they can conventionally fulfill the wishes
and whims created by their social in-
stincts. Others consider the Church as a
“ticket office” and believe that by paying
their church dues or making offerings
they can purchase their tickets to Heaven ;
and if they should like to return to this
land of earthly pleasures, they may even
hope for the possibility of a round-trip
ticket. Still others consider the Church as
a spring-board and think that through
their continued practice of jumping from
this board they can throw themselves over
into the eternal land of “Paradise Lost.”
Then, there are those who go to church
for their spiritual enjoyment. When they
sit in the church pews they think that they
can assume a “balcony attitude” — because
everything that takes place during the
service is for their pleasure. They fail to
realize the significance of true worship
and that its reality in their lives is evi-
denced when they step through the church
doors into the world to bear witness by
their acts to the decisions which were
made while they heard the Word of the
living God. Finally, there are those who
simply consider the Church as an outward
institution through which salvation can
be obtained, and think that to be born
into the Church is sufficient guarantee,
even without rebirth, for their salvation.
Perhaps it is not necessary to mention
that we can find this distorted belief, first
of all, among the Roman Catholics, but it
can also be found frequently among the
adherents of the state-subsidized, Conti-
nental Protestant churches.

The aforementioned interpretations of
the Church are especially erroneous be-

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THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

cause they disregard the fact that the
Church can only be considered as a living
organism, and that this living organism
did not come into being by human initia-
tive, individual or social, but by the crea-
tive act of God, and is thus “built upon
the foundation of the apostles and proph-
ets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief
corner stone, in whom all the building
fitly framed together groweth unto an
holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also
are builded together for an habitation of
God through the Spirit. ,, (Eph. 2:20-22.)

This dynamic aspect of the Church,
or rather of the community comprising
the Church, which is acted upon from
above, is very appropriately interpreted
in the 54th question and answer of the
Heidelberg Catechism where, in answer
to the question “What dost thou believe
concerning the Holy Catholic Church of
Christ ?” it is stated, “That the Son of
God from the beginning to the end of the
world, gathers, defends, and preserves to
himself by his Spirit and Word, out of
the whole human race, a Church chosen
to everlasting life, agreeing in true faith ;
and that I am and forever shall remain, a
living member thereof.” During the read-
ing of this answer we can envision the
ceaseless recruiting begun and continued
by Divine initiative through the Word and
Holy Spirit from the beginning of the
world unto its end. We can realize that
the members of this spiritual army did
not gather under the banner of Christ in
order to guarantee their own salvation,
but only because they consider the cause
of God as ultimately the only true cause,
and know and feel what it is to have God,
through His Word and Holy Spirit, gath-
er, defend and preserve the Church for
Himself as his chosen people. “Fecisti nos
ad te,” said Augustine. (Thou hast made
us for Thyself.) The Church exists so that
in it and through it by personal decisions
and new beginnings we may daily learn

that “of God, and through God, and to
God, are all things. To him be the glory
forever.” (Rom. 11 136. )

But by what means does God’s recruit-
ing transpire? What makes our life a
perpetual commencement agreeable to God
and marked with obedient decisions ? What
qualifies us to be members of the Church ?
It is God’s Word and Holy Spirit as they
cooperatively and simultaneously move,
form, and urge us to make decisions while
the Word of God is being proclaimed.
“Est autem ecclesia societas fidelium, in
qua evangelium recte docetur.” The
preaching of the gospel is God’s chosen
weapon given to the ministry of His
Church. And I know no one who can be
more grateful than he who can say that
God called him to preach the Word. Thus
the Apostle Paul cries, “Now thanks be
unto God who always causeth us to tri-
umph in Christ, and maketh manifest the
savor of his knowledge by us in every
place.” (2 Cor. 2:14.) Do you know what
happens when the Word is preached?
God’s eternal predestination is realized.
Therefore the Apostle, in continuing, says
that the preacher of the Word is nothing
else than a “sweet savor of Christ unto
God in them that are saved and in them
that perish ; to the one we are the savor of
death to death ; and to the other the savor
of life unto life.” (2 Cor. 15:16.) Is it
a wonder, therefore, that upon seeing the
marvelous and terrific significance of this
ministration the Apostle immediately asks,
“And who is sufficient for these things?”
(2 Cor. 15:16.)

My dear friends, the secret of good
preaching lies in our daily use of this
question and the statement of our reply
thereto. When we believe that the effec-
tive preaching of the gospel is nothing
other than the skillful application of ex-
egetical, homiletical, and pastoral rules, we
erroneously answer this question because
we expect to qualify ourselves for the

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5

preaching of the gospel through our own
energy and ingenuity. In the meantime we
forget that the true preaching of the
Word, the true “sermo,” is that which is
“conceptus de Spiritu Sancto,” conceived
by the Holy Spirit. I cannot refrain from
relating a humorous, but instructive anec-
dote. A teacher of religion tried to make
his pupils understand the reality of di-
vine providence, and for this purpose he
thought up a brief story: A man was
hurrying along the street when an ap-
proaching automobile struck him and ran
over him. But, wonder of wonders, the
man escaped injury because he fell be-
tween the wheels of the car, not under
them, and the car passed over him. “Well,
children, to what could he attribute this ?”
asked the teacher. “To coincidence,” re-
plied one child. The teacher, seeing that
none of the children thought of Divine
providence, continued: The man walked
on and pretty soon another auto knocked
him down, but again he escaped injury.
“What could be the reason for this, chil-
dren?” he asked. Again a child volun-
teered, “The man was just plain lucky.”
The teacher repeated the incident for a
third time. The man was again walking,
he was struck again, but again suffered
no injury. “Well, children, how do you
explain this ?” asked the teacher who was
now certain that he would get no reply
other than that of Divine providence. And
again a child volunteered to answer.
“Teacher, they say that practice makes
perfect,” was the astounding reply.

Now, let me ask you : Is it true that
human practice makes us masters of the
preaching of the gospel ? I believe it would
be a half-truth if we replied with a simple
“yes” or “no.” For although in the proc-
ess of his daily preparation and practice
the preacher may attain a higher degree
of perfection, he should never forget that
he cannot become an effective preacher,
a “sweet savor of Christ unto God” by

his own strength, skill and practice, but
only by the qualifying grace of the Holy
Spirit. So the Reformers taught when
they spoke of the “testimonium Spiritus
Sancti internum,” i.e., the inner testimony
of the Holy Spirit. The preaching of the
Word, therefore, wherever and whenever
that is the true ministry of the gospel,
must be considered as the miraculous act
of the saving grace of God.

I have no time to go into detail describ-
ing how Christian preaching should not
be conceived. I merely refer to the fact
that the aim of true preaching cannot be
an aesthetic or spiritual entertainment;
nor is it an attempt to invoke religious
experience through human means, nor
mere instruction or the exposition of his-
torical facts, or mere enumeration of mor-
al precepts. The purpose of true preach-
ing is something far different. It endeav-
ors to evoke an existential decision from
the hearers of the Word through the in-
termingling functions of witness-bearing
and protesting. It is the duty of the
preacher to bear repeated testimony to
the historical facts of the Gospel and to
its eternal truths. But he cannot execute
this function of witness-bearing without
at the same time protesting against false
human philosophy and heresy. In the real
preaching of the Word there is no wit-
ness-bearing without protesting and no
protesting without witness-bearing. It is
for this reason that the Epistle written to
the Hebrews calls the Word of God a
weapon sharper than a two-edged sword
(4:12), and that at the time of his call
Jeremiah heard the words, “Behold, I
have put my words in thy mouth. See, I
have this day set thee over the nations and
over the kingdoms to root out and to pull
down, and to destroy and to throw down
— (this apparently being the command to
protest) — to build and to plant,” — and
building and planting can only be done
by bearing witness. (Jer. 1 :g , 10.)

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THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

But we are just arriving at the most
important condition of effective preach-
ing. Who is he who can bear testimony to
the revealed truths? And who is the one
who can protest uncompromisingly and
through his protesting can “cast down
imaginations, and every high thing that ex-
alteth itself against the knowledge of God,
and bring into captivity every thought to
the obedience of Christ”? (2 Cor. 10:5.)
Only he who has already heard the wit-
nessing and protesting Word of God
spoken repeatedly to him when he has
been driven to a willingness to study and
apprehend the revealed truths of that
Holy Book. Only he who proves to be
sufficiently humble and willing and thus
will not be as the “many who corrupt the
Word of God, but as of sincerity, but as
of God, in the sight of God (he) speaks
in Christ.” (2 Cor. 2:17.)

Thus, dear friends, we are approximat-
ing the proper comprehension of the value
of theology. Because theology is not phi-
losophy or excellency of speech or of wis-
dom ; because it is not a closed system of
human thought; and because the theo-
logian is anything but “an abstraction
moving on two legs,” theology has eternal
worth. It is my conviction that one of the
factors contributing to the secularization
of American Protestantism is the sad
truth that many substituted their own re-
ligious philosophy for the theology of the
Word and superimposed the methods of
philosophy in the sphere of theology. Let
us render philosophy its due regard, but
let us remember that we respect it most
when we leave it within its natural boun-
daries, within its scientific limits, and do
not attempt to smuggle its methods into
other realms. In my country there is a
somewhat humorous description of the
various types of national mentality illus-
trated by reference to boredom and phi-
losophy. According to the description,
boredom drives an ever-busy American to

commit suicide; it would drive a French-
man to kill the man who bdres him; for
a German even boredom is philosophy;
and for a Hungarian philosophy is bore-
dom. Now, allow me to assert that there
must be a certain holy boredom, or even
an attitude of holy dissatisfaction when-
ever the representatives of a secularized
theology — men whose speech and preach-
ing is with enticing words of man’s wis-
dom (I Cor. 2:4) — seek to satisfy us
with mere human philosophy when we
know that the task of preaching and the
science of theology which is subservient
to it demand from us something entirely
different, a humble obedience to the wit-
ness-bearing and protestations of the Word
of God. And only if we encounter and
appropriate these two functions of the
Word of God can we become deeper theo-
logians and better preachers. In my eyes
the objective of theology as a science is
the same as that of preaching, the Word
of God to whose ministry we are called.
And for this reason the method of theol-
ogy is the same as that of preaching,
namely, the joint act of witness-bearing
and protesting. But while in preaching
the functions of witness-bearing and pro-
testing are united in a single existential
act, in an act which involves the entire
man with all his faculties, in theology,
which moves in the sphere of reflec-
tion, these two functions are delineated
more precisely and systematically. Theol-
ogy makes good use of the methods of
other sciences, of induction, deduction, and
reduction, of analysis and synthesis, but
she can make use of them only as ends
subservient to her primordial purpose, to
witness-bearing and protesting. One can-
not be a good preacher without continually
reverting to the quarry of Scripture out
of which the rocks of sound theology are
hewn. On the other hand, a theologian
moving in the sphere of reflection can
remain a scholar whose words are “of

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7

sincerity, of God, in the sight of God,
speaking in Christ,” only if he proves him-
self to be a humble servant of the Word
who recurrently participates in the exis-
tential act of preaching so that his theol-
ogy does not become pedantic and an aca-
demic pastime.

Thus it becomes clear that both preach-
ing and theology are functions of the
Church, and if you as Christian men prove
yourselves to be useful servants, your
preaching and theology will have become
an unceasing series of commencement
days. Woe unto that young man who on
his commencement day, while reflecting
upon his academic accomplishments, is
tempted to say to himself, “Soul, thou
hast much goods laid up for many years ;
take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.”
(Luke 12:19.) The significance of Com-
mencement Day for you should not be
the end of ingathering, but rather a new
beginning of seed sowing which leads in-
creasingly to richer harvests.

Finally, let me call your attention to
one more concern. When the Allied troops
landed in Africa, Churchill sent a mes-
sage to the soldiers saying, “This is only
the end of the beginning and not yet the
beginning of the end.” And when the
Sicilian landings were accomplished, Pres-
ident Roosevelt commented, “This is al-
ready the beginning of the end.” During
the war when bombs exploded around us
and buildings were blasted above us, and
hunger and pestilences appeared every-
where, many on the Continent thought
that the end had come, the end of the

world itself. And yet, if they had glanced
into the Word, they would have learned
that all this misery is only the beginning
of sorrows. Before the real end, God’s
own people, not one or another nation,
must suffer and become hated by all other
people for His name’s sake. “And because
iniquity shall abound, the love of many
shall wax cold. But he that shall endure
unto the end, the same shall be saved. And
this gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the world for a witness
unto all nations. And then shall the end
come.” (Matt. 24:12-14.)

In these days the notion of one world
is often the object of our aspirations. Do
you know when this will be realized ? The
Scriptures have an answer. That happy
day will dawn when the gospel shall have
been proclaimed in all the world. Neither
with “push-button” wars, nor with “push-
button” peace treaties, nor even with com-
promised peace treaties can the one world
idea be achieved. It can only be realized
by God’s grace as the consummation of a
series of commencement days in the life
of the Church through its preaching and
theology. “Go ye therefore and teach all
nations . . . teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you ;
and, lo, I am with you always, even unto
the end of the world.” (Matt. 28:19, 20.)
Let us therefore celebrate the hallowed
significance of commencement each day
throughout our pilgrimage as preachers
and theologians, according to the com-
mandment of our Lord.

THE PRINCETON INSTITUTE OF ECUMENICS

It is proposed to inaugurate in 1947
an Institute of Ecumenics. This Institute
is designed to deal with the major fron-
tier problems which confront the Chris-
tian Church in its missionary program

and world-wide relations. It will meet
for one week immediately following the
Institute of Theology, the dates being
July 21 to July 25.

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THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

OUR HIGH CALLING

Stuart Nye Hutchison

T HE Epistle to the Hebrews was an
effort to reconcile the Jews who had
become Christians to the passing of their
ancestral faith. These men and women
had professed Christianity. They had ac-
cepted Jesus as the long-expected Mes-
siah. But they were still intensely loyal
to the traditions of their race. There were
times, in spite of the new and radiant
hope that had come to them, when they
were sad. They had been reared to honor
with all their hearts the teachings of the
prophets, which to them had always been
the final oracles of God.

Now the person and teachings of Jesus
had superseded those of the fathers. Some-
thing new and wonderful had come to
them, and they were glad. But they were
sorrowful, too, as they thought of all they
must give up to realize it.

Perhaps some of you can remember
years ago when your father decided to
build a new house. The family was grow-
ing and larger quarters were necessary.
The old home that so long had sheltered
the household was no longer adequate.
But when it came time to leave there was
a pang of sadness in your hearts. You
thought of the association of that dear old
house ; of the good times there ; of the lit-
tle children who had laughed and played
there; and of all the memories of the
years there. You pleaded that it might
remain. But your father knew better. He
showed you it was no longer sufficient.
He promised you the new house would
stand on the old foundations, and much of
the old material would be used in con-
structing it, and you would have a better
dwelling place than the old.

If you have experienced, or can imag-

ine, a situation such as I have here pic-
tured, you can in a measure appreciate
what these Jewish Christians were pass-
ing through. They loved the old house.
For centuries it had sheltered their race.
Every nook and corner of it was dear to
them.

In the music room David had sung to
the accompaniment of the harp. There
had been heard the voices of Asaph, and
Miriam, and Deborah. In the prophet’s
chamber Elijah had slept, and Elisha, and
Isaiah and Amos, and many another mes-
senger of God who had tarried there on
his way.

At the family altar had presided Abra-
ham and Moses and Samuel and Nehe-
miah. On its walls hung the trophies of
her warrior sons, Joshua and Samson and
Shamgar and David.

In those ancient halls the love of Han-
nah, and Ruth and Esther had blossomed
and left behind its eternal fragrance.

Is it any wonder that they were re-
luctant to leave it, that memory and senti-
ment clung round it still? But the apostle
tells them that the old house is no longer
a safe habitation, that another dwelling is
to be built on the old foundations, and
that there they are to abide forever.

“It signifieth the removing of those
things that are shaken, as of things that
are made, that those things which cannot
be shaken may remain.” These words,
written for a situation in the second cen-
tury, are pertinent and comforting for
that through which the Church is passing
now. We have only to look about us to
know that the world is in the midst of
cataclysmic changes. Old institutions, old
doctrines, old values, old opinions, dear

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9

as life itself to our fathers, are being
weighed in the balance, and many of
them are going into the discard. To all of
us, there comes at times the question, “Is
everything that was precious to our fath-
ers, everything that was dear to us, to go ?”

Where shall we find an answer to our
question — where but in these words of
the Epistle to the Hebrews we have just
quoted, which have explained every other
crisis through which the Church has
passed ?

Let us remind ourselves of a few of
the changes through which the thinking
of the world is passing. First that which
was once called security is gone.

In one of our universities a question-
naire was submitted a few years ago to the
members of the graduating class, in which
was this question: “What most of all do
you desire in life The answers came in
many forms. Behind almost all of them
was the wish for security.

Most of us who are older have been
striving for the same goal. We have for
example saved as we went along, and tried
to invest wisely all the time thinking of
some quiet harbor to which we could re-
tire in the evening of life with our loved
ones and our memories. Where now is
that security for which we planned?

But is its passing so great a misfor-
tune? Shakespeare in “Macbeth” put into
the lips of Hecate these words which are
eternally true : “Security is mortal’s chief-
est enemy.”

An eagle in a cage has security, but
that is not the life for which an eagle was
created. Taking away our temporal secur-
ity is like opening the door of his cage
to an imprisoned bird. The soul is set
free to range the far distances of faith
and to discover new lands of promise,
and it was that for which we were created.

Again, humanism, that philosophy based
upon the all-sufficiency of man, which has
been the only belief of millions of men

and women of our day, has been swept
into the discard by the events of this
tragic era. “For Science,” said the mod-
ernist, “nothing is impossible, and educa-
tion can cure all the ills of mankind. What
is the use of God?”

So the humanist dropped the Pilot and
set out to sail the seas alone. But Science
has failed him, and he has learned through
tragic experience that education alone can-
not save man from his own depravity.
The storm has come and he does not
know the way. Once more he is seeking
wistfully for the Pilot whom he dropped
back yonder.

Another barrier in the way of the com-
ing of the Kingdom which the Providence
of God is removing is intolerant pride of
race and clan. The war just ended was
started on the assumption that one race
alone was fitted to rule the earth.

If we are frank most of us will con-
fess that there has always been in us some
of this feeling as we have thought of other
races or of other classes in our own or
other lands. But humanity is on the march.
Not only has Hitler’s impudent assumption
that one people is superior to all others
been discounted, but many of our own
cherished convictions, we have discovered,
are no longer tenable.

Donald Hankey wrote some lines con-
cerning the London Cockneys in the First
World War which one remembers. These
men were, many of them, the problem of
the police and the despair of society. Then
the war came and the empire needed ev-
ery man : they took these young men, of
whom no one expected anything, and put
them in uniform and taught them to obey,
and turned their faces toward the stars,
and the world knows the story.

Shoulder to shoulder with the men of
Oxford and Cambridge and Edinburgh
they wrote their names in glory on every
battlefield of the war. There was a great-

10

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

ness in their souls that forever erased the
social limitations which had been set for
them.

These days have quickened the social
consciousness, and widened the horizon
of us all. A generation ago we spoke of
China and the Chinese with smug com-
placency. Now China is an honored mem-
ber of the family of nations, and her peo-
ple are the bravest of the brave. Perhaps
again a star is to rise in the East to point
a seeking, sorrowing world to the Christ.

Again the sectarian lines which have
retarded the progress of Protestantism
are being obliterated by the flood which
has come upon the earth.

We in America, with our sadly divided
Church, are being driven, in spite of our-
selves, to a realization of how inconse-
quential are the opinions that separate
us, and how supremely important is the
one great truth that unites us. As one of
our great Protestant leaders put it : “When
we talk about what we believe we differ;
but when we ask the question : ‘In whom
do we believe?’ we are all one.”

To the advancing powers of paganism
and of superstition we must present a
united front if we are to win in the titanic
struggle with the forces of darkness.
What is it that remains?

In one of Mrs. Humphrey Ward’s
books she tells of a young man who had
been reading Voltaire. Absorbed in his
book “The Contradictions of the Bible”
he sees the walls of Christian faith fall-
ing about his ears and, throwing back his
head, he laughs. Voltaire has made an end
of all that superstition. But suddenly he
lifts his head as he remembers that Vol-
taire has been dead for a hundred years.
He turns his eyes to the window and sees
yonder a great Christian Church. How
vain now seems the mockery of the long-
dead Scorner as he stands face to face
with the living Christ.

“Crowns and thrones may perish,
Kingdoms rise and wane,

But the Church of Jesus
Constant will remain.”

A young marine in New Guinea wrote
home, “I never had much interest in mis-
sions, perhaps because I knew so little
about them. But I have seen these noble
men and women and what they have done
with these ignorant savages. I tell you,
it is not what we have, battle-wagons, and
tanks, and B-29S that will save the world.
It is what they have, and if God spares
my life till the war is over I am coming
out to join them.”

What does this age ask in a Christian
minister who is effectively to serve his
generation by the will of God?

First, of course, he must be a man of
God. As he looks out on suffering hu-
manity the words of Christ must be his
watchword: “For their sakes I sanctify
myself.” The Christian ministry can never
rise higher than its source — the life that
is hid with Christ in God.

Second, the age is calling for men with
evangelistic fervor. We who are older
can remember the mass evangelistic move-
ments of several decades ago, led by men
like Sunday, Chapman, and Gipsy Smith !
The day of this form of effort is past.
We are coming back to the method of
Christ, who dealt with souls individually,
as with Nicodemus and the woman at the
well.

Of Andrew it is written, “He first find-
eth his own brother Simon, and saith
unto him, ‘We have found the Messiah.’ ”

In the speaker’s church we have an
organization such as is quite common in
the Presbyterian Church U. S. It is a
little group of men, doctors, merchants,
bankers, about fifteen in number, which
meets for luncheon once a week. At this
luncheon names and cards are distributed
of men in the community who are out-

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

ii

side the Church. During the week the
members call upon these men seeking to
induce them to accept Christ and enter
the Church. At the next luncheon each
man gives his report and plans for the
following week are discussed. This goes
on twelve months in the year and has been
the means of bringing hundreds into
Christian fellowship. Hosts of men and
women outside the Church are waiting
for some Andrew to lead them to Christ.

Again this new day demands of the
Church a more definite emphasis upon
Christian Education.

In the first year of the war the speaker
sat at a dinner in Princeton next to Dr.
Emil Brunner, at that time a guest pro-
fessor in this Seminary. I said to him:
“It seems almost unbelievable that Ger-
many with its long Christian tradition, a
people which has given to the world many
of its greatest spiritual leaders, should
so soon have turned from the faith of its
fathers and become pagan.”

“Ah,” he replied, “there is where you
make your mistake. The paganism of Ger-
many was not a sudden thing. For over
half a century God and religion have been
gradually disappearing from the schools
of Germany. Education has become secu-
lar. A generation has arisen which ac-
knowledges no God and no longer regards
those basic moral sanctions which are the
safeguard of national and international
harmony and decency. That is why the
churches of Germany are empty and the
nation has turned its face toward the dark-
ness in the wake of Adolph Hitler.”

There is but one sure cure for the evils
that threaten our democracy and that is
a return to God, a building again into
young manhood and womanhood of those
beliefs which make character. Without a
background of Christian Education de-
mocracy cannot survive.

Let us look at this thing which we call
Christian Education. It begins, it must

begin, in the home. It would be difficult
to find a man who has attained distinction
as a moral or spiritual leader of his day
and generation who did not come from a
Christian home.

What of the future, for religion in
many homes has almost disappeared. We
recall that incident in the life of Hezekiah
when the King of Babylon sent messen-
gers to visit and congratulate him upon
his recovery from sickness. Hezekiah
treated them royally and sent them on
their way. After their departure Isaiah
came in and said to the King: “What
have they seen in thy house?” A search-
ing question that !

Suppose foreigners who knew nothing
of our religion were to visit for a week
in the average so-called Christian home.
What would they see? They would see
shelves lined with secular books. They
would see on the tables secular papers
and magazines. They would see on the
walls only secular pictures. They would
listen to the conversation of the dining
room and the fireside. It has altogether
to do with politics and gossip and sport.
They would go away at the end of their
time impressed with the thought that
there was no religion there, or, if there
was, it plays no real part in the lives of
the people who reside there. And children
are growing up there taking on the color
of their surroundings. Is it any wonder
that God is not in all their thoughts?

In Dickens’ “Bleak House” he tells
the story of the death of Little Joe. He
was asked if he knew a prayer. The dy-
ing child looked bewildered. He replied
that once down at Tom-all- Alone’s had
been a gentleman they said was a-prayin’,
but it mostly sounded to him like he was
talkin’ to himself. He didn’t know nothin’
about it, he said.

It is not difficult to find present day
parallels to this pathetic incident. One of
my friends, a minister, told of being in-

12

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

vited one evening with his brother, a mis-
sionary, to dine at the home of a fashion-
able acquaintance of them both. As they
sat down the hostess called on one of them
to return thanks. When he had finished
the small boy of the house said, “Mother,
what was that man talking about?” She
was embarrassed and tried to ignore him.
The child persisted : “Mother, what was
that man talking about?” She had to tell
him that he was praying. The child had
never heard anything before like that.
There are so many Little Joes.

Not only the home, but the Church also
must be roused to its responsibility here.
If parents do not respond to the call of
responsibility, and if the state will not,
then the Church must. I am one of an in-
creasing number who believe that the
Protestant Church must eventually, like
the Catholic, take over the week-day in-
struction of children. In the meantime,
our Churches must give more time and
thought and money to Christian Educa-
tion.

Moreover this new day demands of ev-
ery one of us a new zeal for a Christian
world.

Some months ago, we met a business
man in the northwest, an elder in one of
our churches. He had been in Russia for
many weeks, traveling from the Baltic
to the Black and Caspian Seas. He had
visited the great cities of the Soviet Re-
public and interviewed all classes of peo-
ple. He said : “The Church today has in
Russia the greatest opportunity it has
known for a thousand years. When the
revolution came they swept the Church
out with the rest of the czarist regime.
But no revolution can destroy the hunger
of the Russian heart for a religious faith.
Russia is today reaching out its hands
to God.”

We told of his words in a Church in
Southern California. After the service a
naval officer said: “I was so interested in

what you said. My brother has just come
home from Russia and he tells the same
story.”

The secular press would have us all be-
lieve that Russia is the world’s greatest
menace. It can be that or it can be the
Christian Church’s greatest opportunity
since the Ascension.

Think for an instant of that vast
stretch of the world, reaching from the
Carpathians in the West to the China Sea
on the East, embracing the Soviet Em-
pire, India, and China, over one half of
the earth’s population, reaching out hun-
gry hands and hearts to the Christian
Church of America.

Over half a century ago Guido Verbeck
came home from Japan and pleaded with
the Church in America. He told us that
the door of Japan was open, that we
could take that island empire for Christ.

He pleaded in vain and was gathered to |
his fathers. Years after Dr. Speer came
to our churches with the same appeal and
again the Church did not listen. But later
we gave thousands of our finest young
men and expended untold billions of dol-
lars to keep Japanese paganism from de-
stroying our civilization.

What are we going to do with this chal-
lenge God is laying at the door of the
Church? Years ago it was not always
easy to press home the claims of missions
in the face of the narrow provincialism
of many Christian people. Now this is a
thing of the past. This war has brought
home to every thinking man and woman
the interdependence of all nations and
races. We can no longer as Christians jus-
tify an isolationist attitude in the matter
of our faith. The imperialistic vision has
been growing in the mind of the Church.

In addition to the need of the world and
the mind of Christ we must proclaim the
saving truth of the Gospel to all the world
to save ourselves from being submerged.

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

13

These are a few of the paths down into
the future that await the Christian minis-
ter. They are not easy roads. But we do
not travel them alone.

Shakespeare’s play “Henry the Fifth”
has always been a favorite of mine. It has
recently been put upon the screen and
some of you doubtless have seen it. The
finest parts of the play do not appear upon
the stage. It was the night before the
fateful battle of Agincourt. King Henry,
better known to his people as “Harry,”
with ten thousand English yeomen, was
encamped on the plains of Normandy.
Facing him, waiting for the dawn, were
fifty thousand French veterans. As they
looked across at the mighty force against
them the English recruits had become
panic stricken. That night King Henry
did not sleep. All night long his tall form

could be seen moving through the English
camp, grasping trembling hands, smiling
into frightened faces, whispering words
of cheer and courage and hope to his lit-
tle army. The next day the English arch-
ers overthrew the French Knights and
broke the power of feudalism.

Shakespeare, with that genius which
was his, tells us what it was that trans-
formed those men, fearful and afraid,
into an invincible power on the day of
battle. It was “a little touch of Harry
in the night.”

As we look on toward tomorrow there
is much that fills us with doubt and fore-
boding. We, too, need the touch of an
unseen hand and to hear a voice that
speaks to us, “We are going out to battle
on the morrow and I am going with you,
and I am going before you.”

COMING EVENTS

The following events will be of interest to Alumni:

March 3

1 140 p.m.

Third term classes begin

March 12

Day of Convocation. Three addresses by Emile Cailliet, Litt.D.,
Th.D.

March 25

7 130 p.m.

Address by Dr. Frank Aydelotte, Institute for Advanced Study,
Princeton

April 20

11 :oo a.m.

Sermon by President John A. Mackay in connection with the
Bicentennial Celebration of Princeton University, University
Chapel

April 21-24

Stone Lectures by Dr. W. A. Visser ’t Hooft

May 18

4:00 p.m.

Baccalaureate Service and Communion, Miller Chapel

May 19

10:15 a.m.

Stated Meeting of the Board of Trustees

12:30 p.m.

Club and Class Reunion Luncheons

4:00 p.m.

President’s Reception, Springdale

6:30 p.m.

Alumni Banquet, Whiteley Gymnasium

May 20
May 27-

10:30 a.m.

Annual Commencement

August 15

Summer Term for study of Hebrew only

July 7-17

Princeton Institute of Theology

July 21-25

Princeton Institute of Ecumenics

14

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

GRADUATE WORK AND ITS RELATION
TO THE LIBRARY

Henry Snyder Gehman

P RIOR to the First World War many
Americans upon their graduation from
college or the theological seminary con-
tinued their studies in European universi-
ties. In numerous instances no degree was
sought, but the student was satisfied mere-
ly with the broadening influences of travel
and contacts with scholarship in a foreign
land. On the other hand, many men re-
turned from European study with the
doctor’s degree and were qualified to
teach in colleges, universities, and theo-
logical seminaries. Advanced studies, how-
ever, gradually developed in this country,
and a doctorate from a first-class Ameri-
can institution represented work as thor-
ough as that required in a German uni-
versity, and in many cases perhaps better
fitted a young man for teaching in the
American scene. With the close of the
First World War American higher de-
grees received more prestige at home,
and now with the collapse of Germany
our country has a unique opportunity in
the development of scientific scholarship.
With conditions no longer as they ob-
tained before 1914, when many Ameri-
cans pursued their graduate studies in
Germany, more students now will secure
their doctorate in the U.S.A. In fact, with
our economic resources and well-trained
scholars on the faculties of various uni-
versities and theological seminaries, our
country is in a strategic position for fur-
ther developments in the educational field
and in the domain of scientific research in
the broad sense of the term. For the main
part, scholarship is now in the hands of
the English-speaking world, and in the

present hour this country has an oppor-
tunity as well as a duty in the promotion
of scientific scholarship. With the shift
of graduate work from the continent of
Europe to America we shall have to edu-
cate our future teachers and professors
and also be ready to admit to our gradu-
ate schools foreign students, who a few
years ago would have completed their
studies in other lands.

In our discussion of graduate work at
Princeton Theological Seminary we may
mention, in passing, the Th.M., which has
its value for men who desire specialized
study for a year beyond the B.D. Among
the requirements for this degree is a
thesis of special merit, and naturally this
should require considerable research in
the library under the guidance of a pro-
fessor. For the most part, however, the
candidates for the Th.M. intend to go
into the pastorate, and in the end they
do not have the leisure to continue re-
search. Obviously they will have to rely
on the results of research by other schol-
ars, and in this way enrich their store of
knowledge. Thus research will have an
influence upon the life and thought of
the Church.

A few years ago Princeton Theologi-
cal Seminary inaugurated courses leading
to the Th.D. degree, and the few doctors
who have been graduated have already
achieved a reputation in their chosen fields
of scholarship. In this discussion of grad-
uate work we shall have in mind espe-
cially the candidates for the doctorate, be-
cause for about three years all their work
is centered in the library in association

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

15

with their professors. In any considera-
tion of work for the doctorate the ques-
tion arises : “Should a man take a doctor’s
degree for its own sake?” Too often men
have the mistaken idea that a degree adds
to their prestige or to their effectiveness
in a parish. As of old, so today there still
are those who love “greetings in the mar-
kets and to be called of men, ‘Rabbi,
Rabbi.’ ” But unfortunately no higher de-
gree can add one cubit unto a man’s
stature, nor is it a key that will automati-
cally unlock the difficulties of life. In
fact, one of the basic requirements for
teaching and preaching is plain ordinary
common sense; without this fundamental
basis no degree will lead to a successful
career.

Should a man work for a higher degree
merely for the sake of the degree? If the
doctorate is sought solely for the title, it
is not worth the severe labor it entails. No
degree is an honor to a man, unless in his
professional life and work he honors the
degree he earned by hard study and re-
search. A student who undertakes gradu-
ate work should know what it is about.
If he discovers that his heart is not in the
work, he should have the courage to quit
or the faculty should ask him to leave be-
fore too much time is wasted. No research
can be successfully prosecuted unless the
student has a love for the truth and finds
a thrill in unravelling difficulties and in
making discoveries. Certainly any man
who works for a doctorate has no right
to expect to live in a country club ; he
should regard all the prescribed courses
and requirements as means to an end, not
as onerous and distasteful duties. The
Th.D. is primarily a research degree, and
it should never be regarded as just a few
jumps beyond the B.D. In speaking of re-
search we do not limit the word to investi-
gations in archives and documents; it is
understood to refer, in the broad sense of

the term, to making any original contribu-
tions to theological thought.

Any work for the doctorate demands a
reading knowledge of certain languages,
and clearly the requirements of foreign
languages are not hurdles placed in the
way of an ambitious young man nor en-
cumbrances designedly imposed to keep
down the supply of doctors or budding
professors. These tongues are tools a re-
search worker must have ; they are imple-
ments indispensable to both student and
professor to unlock the rich treasures in
our library and to keep abreast with the
literature which flows as a constant stream
from various centers of learning. It seems
inconceivable that a man can do any theo-
logical research without a knowledge of
Latin and German as minima. No science
of any sort can be studied without reading
German books and periodicals. What the
second modern language may be, will de-
pend upon the literature in the particular
field of specialization. There is an ecumen-
icity of scholarship which transcends the
limitations of national prejudice and pro-
vincial outlook, and many of the finest
contributions to theology have not been
translated into English, and doubtless
never will be. A graduate student must
make up his mind to spend many hours in
the library mastering the literature in his
special field. For graduate study and re-
search foreign languages are not for occa-
sional use, but as the student works in the
library he must continually read and con-
sult books and periodicals in foreign
tongues.

In training men adequately for the
degree we need students who will not
chafe under requirements, and obviously
our candidates should still be young, if we
wish to see the best fruits of our labors.
A young man is still in the formative
state; his mental habits are not yet fixed.
He should have less prejudice, and it
should be easier for him to view a subject

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THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

objectively than for a man who begins
his studies in the thirties. At a certain
time in life the human organism can no
longer undergo the ordeal of long and sus-
tained effort in acquiring the elements of
knowledge ; the time to lay the foundation
for one’s life-work is during young man-
hood, when both mind and body are still
pliable and responsive. There is exacted
in scholarship a certain grind, and the
habits of research should be developed at
an early period in life. These, however,
are not ends in themselves, but the fresh-
ness of original theological scholarship
will keep the thought of the Church pul-
sating with a buoyant life.

Occasionally, however, due to circum-
stances beyond his control, a good student
is forced to postpone his advanced studies
for a number of years. It also happens in
some instances that after a minister has had
a successful pastorate, he is challenged
to teach in a theological seminary ; in
such a case the situation demands that he
prepare himself for the particular chair.
From time to time there occur these spe-
cial cases where a mature man has to go to
class with younger men and on the same
level prepare himself for a new position.
Here is where a graduate school can re-
spond to the needs and life of the Church.
Although there are these notable excep-
tions, it seems fair to say that we can
accomplish most with men well under
thirty-five, when they still have the elan
required to explore the sources of knowl-
edge in the library. A number of years
beyond the doctorate are required for the
maturing of abilities and of knowledge,
and by the time a man has reached forty,
he should have his life-work well in hand.
In the last analysis we must admit that the
Th.D. is a young man’s degree. For after
the scholar has mastered his subject and
developed proper procedures, he should
have many years before him in which to
make his contributions to the Church.

Obviously no professor and no student
can own more than a small portion of the
books required in the work for the doctor-
ate. Any graduate work in theology de-
mands access to a library that is complete
in having the standard works in the
various theological disciplines and is con-
tinually replenished with new books and
periodicals as they appear. In plain terms,
the library has to be kept up-to-date if
respectable graduate work is to be done.
In graduate studies the professor and stu-
dent are engaged in a common enterprise.
Generally speaking, the student himself
should find the theme for his dissertation
in connection with his reports in the sem-
inars; that is far better than blindly un-
dertaking a field of research for the simple
reason that it is assigned by a professor.
At all times a graduate student must learn
to think for himself. Under no condition
should he permit himself to become a
cringing disciple of his mentor, a timorous
echo of his preceptor, or a second edition
of his major professor. Independent work
in the library should develop a refreshing
spontaneity of approach and presentation
of subject matter.

Graduate work consists not only in tak-
ing courses and in acquiring an extensive
acquaintance with the field of specializa-
tion, but in blazing new trails in knowl-
edge. Stress must continually be laid upon
original work and in going to the sources
of knowledge. This demands that the pro-
fessors who teach graduate students be
responsible for fewer undergraduate
courses in order to direct adequately the
work of the advanced students. This im-
plies furthermore that ultimately a larger
number of assistants will be necessary to
relieve the graduate professors of an ex-
cessive number of hours in the classroom.
At this point, however, it must be noted
that the professor is not merely a direc-
tor; by his own example he himself will
have to use the facilities of the library

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

1 7

and publish books and monographs. A suc-
cessful teacher of graduate work will
not be merely a passive spectator on the
bleachers, but he will train with the team
and take his “punishment” in the scrim-
mage. The European universities obtained
their reputation through the published
works of their professors, and if we ex-
pect to train adequately future professors
and research workers, the teachers of
graduate students will have to take an ac-
tive part in learned societies and make
their own contributions to knowledge by
engaging in research and publishing their
results. It is idle for us in this country to
speak of filling the gap in scholarship left
vacant by the collapse of Germany unless
graduate faculties are interested in origi-
nal research; indeed we must do more
than lean upon the work of both predeces-
sors and contemporaries. If our published
works be authoritative, we shall attract
students of high caliber from this country
and foreign lands.

Our library at Princeton Theological
Seminary is excellent and well supplied
with materials for research. Yet we are
seriously handicapped in having our books
scattered in two separate buildings. For a
more adequate program of graduate
studies we need a modern library building
to house our books and periodicals; that
new library should have a number of car-
rells, where our men can pursue their re-
searches with a sense of independence and
without interruption. It will also need a
number of seminar rooms, where the pro-
fessor can hold conferences with his stu-
dents and give instruction in an environ-
ment conducive to stimulating the spirit
of research. A proper atmosphere for ad-
vanced instruction is created when the
! basic books required in a graduate course
are accessible for immediate consultation
and available for training the students in
the proper methodology. A modern library
building with proper facilities will play

a vital part in fostering the camaraderie
which should subsist between professor
and pupil. In true graduate work the pro-
fessor and pupil are companions in study
and colleagues in research. Here is where
the library and the program of graduate
studies must be thoroughly integrated.

At the conclusion of his residence re-
quirements the student will have to use
the library more than ever before, as he
prepares his doctoral dissertation ; and
this, by the way, is the most important
part of graduate study. The writing of
the dissertation may appear to be narrow
specialization, but it does not necessarily
have to be so. An extensive bibliography
will have to be prepared, and the student
must know the exact status of the subject
up to the time of his investigations. Evi-
dence of all sorts must be weighed, but
the dissertation cannot be a rehash of old
material. Here the candidate’s work comes
to fruition, and he reveals the extent of
his outlook as well as his ability within a
special topic ; above all he can in this work
prove whether he can do a good job. But
last of all, no doctor’s degree can be
awarded solely for proficiency in a cer-
tain field; a dissertation must represent a
contribution to knowledge by being based
on original sources.

Princeton Theological Seminary now
has a unique opportunity in preparing
men to teach Biblical and theological sub-
jects, and by maintaining high standards
of instruction and training in research we
can make a contribution to American
and international scholarship. Original re-
search, however, remains fundamental to
any graduate work worthy of the name,
and so the student must continually avail
himself of the resources of our library.
In advanced studies both professor and
student are engaged in a joint undertak-
ing, and they must always keep a humble
frame of mind, a love for the truth, and
a mind open to the truth regardless of its

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THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

implications and consequences. Produc-
tive scholarship must be accompanied by
intellectual and spiritual freedom. Thus
knowledge is pursued not as an end in
itself, but it is dedicated to the service
of the Church.

Now a library is not merely a building
where books are deposited as in a museum,
nor is the theological seminary interested
in simply amassing volumes as does a
book collector. With the integration of
graduate courses with the resources in
our library it becomes a living source of
power for the Church. Well-trained doc-
tors of theology leaving our institution
will be qualified to make their contribu-
tions to the literature of the Church and
prevent its thought from becoming static.
In speaking of an up-to-date library we
do not mean that only recent books should
be purchased. We are bearing in mind
that several centuries ago many volumes
were written and edited which have re-
mained basic for Biblical and theological
research, and so, from time to time, as
the opportunity presents itself, lacunae in
our library will have to be filled with
books published several generations or
even a longer time ago. In the case of
learned periodicals the early issues are as
significant as recent numbers, and in sub-
scribing to a journal it is always impor-
tant to have the files complete in order
that all the numbers may be available for
research. A library, however, does not ex-
ist for its own sake ; graduate work is not

an endurance test or a form of indoor
sport. As we purchase books for the li-
brary and teach our students in the proper
methods of research, we keep within our
vision the whole field of the Church and
its intellectual and spiritual needs.

A number of scholars on several occa-
sions informed the writer that they con-
sider the library of Princeton Theological
Seminary unique in its collection of books
for research in various departments of
theology. Unfortunately this fact is not
generally known. Our graduate work and
the publications by both faculty and alum-
ni, however, in due course should make
our seminary known as a center of ad-
vanced studies. If our graduate work is
conducted on a high level, Princeton The-
ological Seminary will produce a number
of young men who will advance American
scholarship; in consequence our library
will become a national theological center
to which scholars and professors from
other institutions will come for special
research. A modern library building will
greatly aid in making our materials for
research available to the world of schol-
ars, but, after all, this may sound like an
abstraction. In the end, however, it re-
mains incumbent upon the faculty of
graduate instruction by their own work
to extend the confines of knowledge
through research and to inculcate a sim-
ilar spirit in those students who are look-
ing forward to a career of teaching.

THE PRINCETON INSTITUTE OF THEOLOGY

The aim of the Institute is to provide
instruction, inspiration, and fellowship for
ministers and laymen. The program in-
cludes courses of outstanding interest and
importance for the understanding of the
Christian faith and its application within

the framework of contemporary life. The
dates of the Institute for 1947 are July 7
to 17. All inquiries should be directed to
the secretary of the Institute Committee,
Dr. J. Christy Wilson, Princeton Theo-
logical Seminary.

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

19

THE PRESIDENT’S PAGE

Dear Alumni and Friends of the Seminary:

On the sixth of October Mrs. Mackay and I arrived back in Princeton from our
long Latin American journey. In the course of seventeen weeks we had visited four-
teen countries. The supreme impression with which we returned was that the evangeli-
cal community in Latin America is on the march and is developing in numbers and
influence and devotion.

The journey had been undertaken at the request of the Board of Foreign Missions.
It was the Board’s desire that two former missionaries should return to their former
field for a brief period of intensive work, both in the evangelical community and in
the Latin American community in general. In the course of our journey, which was
entirely by air, I spoke some two hundred times, ninety per cent of the occasions be-
ing in Spanish. The audiences, in their varied character, ran the gamut of Latin
American Society. I addressed evangelicals in church buildings, the general public
in theatres. I spoke to YMCA groups, to university audiences, to writers’ clubs and
to teachers’ associations, to the inmates of a famous penitentiary, and at a great
political rally of the APRA party in Peru. Mrs. Mackay spoke to women at different
points on our journey. In Theology Today and The Presbyterian, and from time to
time in other journals, articles will appear inspired by our experiences and dealing
with diverse phases of Latin American life and thought.

The experience was strenuous but thrilling. It was particularly inspiring to meet
Princeton Seminary men engaged in diverse missionary tasks all over the Latin
American Continent. It was no less moving to find boys, now grown to manhood,
who had once been my pupils in school or university in Peru, now occupying positions
of trust in business, government, or the Church.

Absence and distance, and the human problem in its continental setting, made
Princeton Theological Seminary stand out in our thoughts with a larger significance
than ever before. The deep longing we discovered in the chief cultural centers for a
spiritual interpretation of life, made that kind of theology which does justice to
Revelation, and has a realistic, sympathetic outlook upon the human scene, a pressing
intellectual need. Moreover, the evidence found everywhere of the new Roman im-
perialism brought home to one, in an overwhelming way, the importance of united
evangelical action. At the same time, the growth of great evangelical churches in
Latin America, and the increasing number of Latin American students who come
to Princeton, filled one with a sense of responsibility and gave one a great hope for
the part God wishes this Seminary to play in the thought and life of those southern
lands.

As for the old campus itself, it is thronged in these days more than it ever was
in its history. Never have there been so many students on the campus at one time.
Men and women to the number of three-hundred eleven are enrolled. They hail from
one-hundred eighty-four colleges and forty-nine seminaries. Ninety-one of the total
are pursuing graduate studies. Almost one-hundred are veterans, studying under the
G. I. Bill. The chaplains’ group numbers thirty-six.

20

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

Acceleration being now over, the Seminary goes back to one graduation a year
instead of four. The only reminiscence of the accelerated course will be a special class
in elementary Hebrew for veterans, which will be given for twelve weeks during the
summer. We shall henceforward devote part of each summer to a series of institutes.
The Institute of Theology is already established as a great national and interdenomina-
tional event. Next July, the week following this institute will be devoted to an Insti-
tute of Ecumenics. In this institute will be presented and discussed several of the
major issues of a practical, frontier character that confront the Christian Church
today. After the Institute of Ecumenics has become established, there will be added
an Institute of Education at which will be dealt with questions connected with the
Christian faith in its relation to education, literature, the press and to culture in
general.

We greatly miss the beloved Dr. Henry Seymour Brown who retired in August,
in accordance with the General Assembly’s ruling. In May we shall lose Dr. Kuizenga,
who after nearly twenty years of distinguished service to the Seminary, is also ap-
proaching the age prescribed for retirement from active service. Dr. Hromadka will
be returning next summer to his Chair of Theology in the University of Prague, and
will be sorely missed by a mournful but grateful Seminary. Let us have your prayers
in view of the very important faculty appointments which these retirements will
make necessary within the coming months.

The new administration building is a joy to work in. How grateful we are for the
magnificent response from the alumni which has made it possible.

Praying God’s richest blessing upon your labors and with affectionate regards,

Yours very sincerely,

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

21

A TRIBUTE

U PON the occasion of his retirement,
in accordance with the rule of the
General Assembly, the Board of Trustees
desires to record its deep appreciation of
the service rendered by Dr. Henry Sey-
mour Brown to Princeton Theological
Seminary during the nine years which he
has occupied the Vice-Presidency.

Responding in 1937 to an earnest call
of the Board of Trustees and the Presi-
dent of the Seminary, Dr. Brown left an
important position under the Presbytery
of Chicago to head up the new Forward
Movement which had been initiated by
the Seminary with a view to securing the
funds necessary for its development. Dur-
ing the intervening years the Vice-Presi-
dent has given himself unstintingly and
with success to the important task as-
signed to him by the Board of Trustees.
In loyal and affectionate partnership with
the President of the Seminary he has co-
operated in everything relating to the
development and progress of the institu-
tion. By public addresses in synods and
presbyteries he has stirred the Church to
consider its obligation to support theologi-
cal education. The atmosphere created
throughout the Church by this campaign
was an important factor in bringing it
about that the seminaries were, at long
last, included in the benevolence budget
of the Church.

In cooperation with Dr. David Hugh
Jones, the Seminary’s Director of Music,
Dr. Brown has made the Seminary Choir
a spiritual instrument of the Forward
Movement. Visits made by the Choir to
more than five hundred Presbyterian con-
gregations in the mid- Atlantic and New
England states have brought theologi-
cal education vividly before Presbyterian

Church people and secured the loyal ad-
hesion of many congregations to the
cause of Princeton Seminary. These visits
have proved a means of grace to multi-
tudes of people, while at the same time
bringing the ministry as a vocation to the
attention of youth.

Dr. Brown has devoted himself, more-
over, to arousing the Alumni of the Semi-
nary to a sense of their responsibility to-
wards their Alma Mater. By his clear
vision and devotion, his wealth of telling
facts, and the richness of his humor he
has raised the morale of the Alumni, who,
on their part, have responded by con-
tributing generously to diverse Seminary
projects. He has also had the satisfaction
of securing some considerable gifts for
the Forward Movement, and was the au-
thor, besides, of the new plan of annui-
ties. Above all, he has radiated Christian
friendship wherever he has gone and made
a host of friends for Princeton Seminary.
The fruits of these labors the Seminary
will reap for many years ahead.

In the internal life of the Seminary,
Dr. Brown has been a tower of strength
and a fountain of friendliness. His warm
devotion and his wealth of experience in
the Church’s service have been a constant
help and inspiration to his colleagues and
to all the students with whom he has
come into contact. His loving presence
will be greatly missed on the campus, but
his memory will live on amid monuments
which time will rear to his devotion.

The Board of Trustees in thanking Dr.
Brown for his term of distinguished and
fruitful service wishes him and Mrs.
Brown many long and hallowed years in
their retirement.

22

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

PRINCETONIANA

Lefferts A. Loetscher

Opening of Seminary

T HE Seminary opened on Septem-
ber 1 6 with the largest enrollment in
its history. A total of 356 students from
183 colleges are listed in the current cata-
logue. The opening address was delivered
by Dr. Stuart Nye Hutchison, pastor of
the East Liberty Presbyterian Church of
Pittsburgh and a member of the Semi-
nary’s Board of Trustees.

The graduate and junior groups are
particularly large, numbering more than
a hundred each (118 and 105), with the
senior and middler classes — vintage of the
war years — somewhat smaller ( 56 and
59). There are also 18 special students.
As these figures imply, there are a great
many veterans in the two largest groups —
chaplains among the graduate students
and men from the line service in the jun-
ior class. There are ex-service men in the
other classes also. One of the casualties
of the war years was the larger part of
the delegation of foreign students whose
presence on the campus ordinarily adds
so much to Seminary life. It is a pleas-
ure to be able to report that visitors from
abroad are this year with us in renewed
force, from 18 foreign countries, scat-
tered over all five major continents. The
fellowship is truly an ecumenical one.
From within our own country, 39 states
and territories are represented.

The Faculty

It was a great pleasure to the whole
faculty to receive back again on October 5
Dr. and Mrs. Mackay after their very
strenuous missionary visit to South Amer-
ica. From the time they took off at the

Newark airport on June 7 until their re-
turn four months later the journey was
a continuous succession of enplanings and
addresses. By such a strenuous schedule
it was possible to visit fourteen different
lands extending from Cuba and Mexico
to Argentina. Both Dr. and Mrs. Mackay
filled strenuous speaking schedules. The
Spanish press in the various lands was
frequently most appreciative in its com-
ments.

Dr. Hromadka, too, was abroad this
past summer, in an itinerary that took him
to Britain and the Continent. Sailing on
the S.S. Brazil on July 16, he found him-
self in the company of some fifty stu-
dents going to conferences abroad, and
soon became occupied with conversation
and addresses. In Scotland he visited a
former teacher to whom he owed much,
Principal David Cairns, and was with him
the day he died. After about a week in
Britain Dr. Hromadka went to his native
Czechoslovakia, where he occupied him-
self with studying the religious and moral
situation and with making preparations
for his own return to the University of
Prague next year. Dr. Hromadka found
his country making notable recovery po-
litically and economically since his visit
last year, but found the Continent even
more exhausted morally and spiritually
than he had expected.

The annual Faculty reception for stu-
dents was held on October 17. Because
of the unusually large enrollment this
year the event took place in the Whiteley
Gymnasium rather than in the Lenox Li-
brary. Invitations were extended to all fac-
ulty members, missionaries in residence,
students, Princeton Presbyterian pastors,

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

23

and their wives, and about 450 were pres-
ent. It was a busy time for Mrs. Mackay
and the other ladies of the Faculty, with
students, too, helping in various ways.

Sometime near the opening of every
Seminary year the Faculty take a Satur-
day for a “retreat” at which problems af-
fecting the life and work of the Seminary
are informally discussed. This year, on
November 16, the retreat was held at the
Evangelical Deaconry at Liberty Corners
in northern New Jersey. The fellowship
among Faculty members on these occa-
sions always proves stimulating and help-
ful.

Foreign Missions

The Students’ Lectures on Foreign
Missions were this year delivered by
Dr. T. Z. Koo, widely known Chinese
Christian leader, and at present a resident
of Payne Hall. He is a fascinating speak-
er and throughout his four lectures, Oc-
tober 21-24, there was an unusually large
number of visitors from outside the Semi-
nary.

Alumni will be interested to know that
the following missionaries are now in
residence in Payne Hall, 38-44 Alexander
Street, Princeton: Rev. and Mrs. A. D.
Clark (Colombia) ; Rev. and Mrs. J. Y.
Crothers (China) ; Rev. and Mrs. W.
P. Fenn (China) ; Rev. and Mrs. C. Roy
Harper (Brazil) ; Rev. and Mrs. R. A.
Iobst (Nicaragua) ; Dr. and Mrs. T. Z.
Koo (China) ; Rev. and Mrs. J. A. Napp
(India) ; Mrs. S. L. Roberts (Korea) ;
Mr. and Mrs. A. T. Roy (China) ; Rev.
and Mrs. W. J. Skellie (Egypt) ; Rev.
and Mrs. W. C. Smith (India) ; Rev.
and Mrs. F. Scott Thompson (Egypt).

The missionaries in Payne Hall on an
afternoon in the autumn invited all semi-
nary students to a tea. This afforded a fine
opportunity to become mutually acquaint-
ed and also for the students to get direct
and authentic information concerning most

recent missionary developments, problems,
and needs in many lands.

The Seminary continues to maintain
and foster its well-known missionary in-
terest. Each year sees many seniors de-
voting their lives to this great field of
service.

Alumni Gatherings

A number of interesting gatherings of
alumni groups have been held recently.
In connection with the annual meeting of
the Synod of New Jersey at Atlantic
City on October 15, a large body of
Princeton Seminary alumni and some of
their wives attended a luncheon meeting.
Dr. Walter L. Whallon, of Newark, a
member of the Board of Trustees, pre-
sided. Just to make sure that everything
was “according to Hoyle,” “McNamara’s
Band” was duly sung. Dean Edward H.
Roberts gave some interesting information
concerning the Seminary and Dr. Norman
V. Hope, Professor-elect of Church His-
tory, delivered an address which was
enthusiastically received by the alumni.
Much credit goes to the Rev. Guy A.
Bensinger, of Dutch Neck, who makes
the arrangements for these luncheons
each year.

At Harrisburg, on October 18, another
representative group of alumni assembled
in the Market Square Church. The pastor,
Dr. Raymond C. Walker, who is a trus-
tee of the Seminary, was host, and Dr.
Charles A. Underwood, president of the
alumni of this area, presided. Many in-
teresting facts regarding the Seminary
were given by Dean Roberts, and Dr.
Hope gave a most helpful address on
“The Minister and the Atom Bomb.”
An extended discussion was followed by
a luncheon.

Still other Seminary alumni met in
Philadelphia on December 2. There are
many Princeton men in the Philadelphia
area, and this constitutes one of the

24

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

strong district organizations of alumni.
Dr. Mackay addressed the meeting and
spoke on his recent visit to Latin America,
describing the experiences and impres-
sions of the visit to our good neighbors
to the south.

Choir Visits Cuba

The Princeton Seminary Choir is al-
ready well known to alumni and friends
of the Seminary through its ambitious
program of Sunday visits to churches,
reaching about three churches every week-
end. These Sunday visits can, of course,
be made only to churches in the north-
eastern United States, as choir members
throughout the winter are occupied with
their Seminary studies. This last summer,
under the able leadership of its director,
Dr. David Hugh Jones, the choir greatly
extended its range of service by a trip
through the southern states to Florida
and thence to Cuba. The choir hopes next
summer to visit the southwestern states
and perhaps also to enter Mexico. Pastors
in this area who would welcome a visit
from the choir are invited to address Dr.
David Hugh Jones at the Seminary.

We quote an account of the choir’s
visit to Cuba last summer written by an
alumnus member of the choir, the Rev.
Merle S. Irwin, assistant pastor of the
Westfield Presbyterian Church.

“The Princeton Theological Seminary choir,
under the direction of Dr. David Hugh Jones,
has just completed a tour of Cuba where they
sang 36 services during their eight day tour
of the island, and a total of 46 services in the
sixteen days of their trip southward.

“Leaving Princeton on the 28th of August,
the first service was sung at the Barton Heights
Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia. There
followed, in order, two noon day services at the
Edenton Street Methodist Church of Raleigh,
North Carolina, and the Presbyterian Church
in Jacksonville, Florida.

“Arriving in Miami, the six cars were put
aside and the choir took to the air lanes, arriv-
ing amidst a glorious welcome in Havana two
short hours later. There followed in rapid suc-

cession a trip to ‘El Mundo,’ one of Havana’s
leading newspapers, where the choir was photo-
graphed while singing; a radio broadcast over
station KMOX; and a service at the Methodist
Church of Candler College.

“Sunday was a busy day ! Beginning with the
Presbyterian church at Salud 218, the choir
moved on to the American Union church, Indus-
tria y Virtudes, where they sang two services — •
one to a Spanish speaking congregation, and the
other to the only English speaking group they
met on the entire Cuban tour. Then, after sump-
tuous dinners in various homes, the Chinese
Presbyterian Sunday school was visited, and two
Presbyterian missions in the suburbs of Havana.

“On Monday morning a chartered bus was
waiting at the door of Candler College, and the
twenty-four members of the choir scrambled for
seats as the actual tour got underway. Heading
eastward, the men sang their way across 800
miles of Cuban sugar cane, palm trees, tobacco
fields, pineapple and banana plantations, and
into the hearts of hundreds of Cuban Christians.

“Highlights of the week’s trip included: a
sunrise service at Matanzas, the first service
of the new Union Seminary, which is being
sponsored jointly by the Boards of the Methodist
and Presbyterian churches, and which will be
called ‘The Evangelical Seminary of Theology’.
Dr. Alfonso Rodriguez, our wonderful guide,
interpreter and friend on the trip and a candi-
date for the Doctor of Theology degree at
Princeton Seminary, is the newly elected Presi-
dent of Cuba’s first Seminary. Other memorable
services included those at Sancti Spiritus, one
of Cuba’s oldest cities ; at Placetas del Sur,
high point of the trip in respect to altitude,
where the church is a converted tobacco ware-
house ; at Caibarien, on the sea, where an orig-
inal cooperative investment of $80 has grown
to $70,000 and now helps support a lovely
church and college; at the Seventh Day Ad-
ventist College near Santa Clara, where there
was a splendid group of ministerial candidates
for that church; and at Progressiva College in
Cardenas, admitted by all to be the finest and
best in Cuba, where an evening concert was
given, and five worship services the following
Sunday morning.

“Arriving at their hotels in Miami at 3:45
A.M. Monday morning, the members of the
choir were nevertheless on the road again by
nine o’clock and headed toward home. Stops
were made and services sung at the Presby-
terian Church of Ocala, Florida ; at the Kiwanis
club meeting in Lake City, Florida; at the Cen-
tral Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, Georgia;

THE PRINCETON SEMIN ARY BULLETIN

25

at the Boys High School of Anderson, South
Carolina; and at the Presbyterian Church of
the Covenant in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Although they had driven nearly four hundred
miles that day, seventeen of the men drove all
night in order to reach Princeton by registration
time the following day.

“Perhaps a word is in order as to the type
of service that was conducted on this tour.
Eight or ten sacred numbers were sung in
groups, ranging from the sixteenth century to
modern day compositions, by composers of every
nationality on the three main themes : The Ad-
vent, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ.
Two students would speak during each service
on their call to the Christian ministry, and one
would speak on the need for ministers of the
gospel today. Every testimony would be differ-
ent! Each man, in turn, would give his witness
to the power of Christ in his own life, in the
hope that it might help those who were listen-
ing. So the first speaker might be a former V-12
student for the Chaplaincy ; the next a son from
the manse; then an Air Force pilot of the war,
with 37 missions over Germany; followed by a
Professor’s son ; or one from the farm ; a son
of a baker; or our one Chinese member, who
is the first Christian to come forth from his
pagan family in Hawaii. But regardless of back-
grounds and the many ways through which he
had wandered before answering the call, each
man’s witness was in most respects the same —
Christ had spoken to him by name, and he was
preparing to serve Him through His church.
The services generally concluded with every one
present joining in the final hymn. In Cuba,
the choir would sing in English and the people
in Spanish, proving as never before, that the
gospel of Christ, whether in word or song, knows
no barrier of speech.

“The members of the choir will probably
never know how much help they rendered the
cause of Christ in Cuba. The purpose of the
trip was just to make friends — a Christian
goodwill mission to our Spanish speaking neigh-
bors — but one very real evidence of God’s power
came at the conclusion of the tour. Where ‘The
Evangelical Seminary of Theology’ had four
students enrolled at the time of the sunrise
service at the beginning of the week, at the
conclusion of the tour, there were twelve stu-
dents ready to give their lives in service to the
Master, in whatever way He would use them.
One was a very prominent lawyer who ‘re-
ceived a vision during the service’ and at its
conclusion simply got on the bus and headed
toward the Seminary.

“Altogether, the brief tour of this beautiful
country was a source of inspiration to every
member of the choir, and all of the men re-
turned home mindful of several things : First,
of the great way in which God has blessed us
as a nation; Second, of the wonderful spirit of
the Christian people whom we met ; and third,
of the great need and the many opportunities
still awaiting the impact of the gospel among
our Spanish speaking neighbors.”

It is interesting to note that the choir
received many appreciative letters both
from the states traversed en route and
from Cuba. One of the letters from Cuba
said in part : “You may be absolutely sure
that your sympathetic attitude, the Chris-
tian love which you invariably manifested,
and the way in which you presented those
hymns produced a deep impression on
this people, the majority of whom are in-
different to the pure preaching of the
Gospel but who were moved to their
depths by the messages given and the per-
fect music produced.” The letter reports
that the director of a Cuban municipal
band who heard the Seminary choir said
“that he had never believed it possible that
the harmony of a great orchestra could
have been produced with human voices as
you were able to do it.” The writer adds :
“May God bless you and grant that you
may be able to return to us again to de-
light our ears with that sublime music.”

Theology Today

It is a pleasure to observe that the cir-
culation of Theology Today is still ex-
panding. One of the ecumenical agencies,
The Church World Service Commission,
is undertaking to distribute regularly 150
copies of the periodical in Europe and
150 more in the Orient to libraries and to
individuals in theological institutions. The
contents of Theology Today , too, are at-
tracting ever wider attention. One of its
editorials was reprinted in a British reli-
gious digest. An article was translated into
Spanish for a Mexican religious journal

26

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

and part of Table Talks was reproduced
in a Canadian church paper.

With the current January issue Theol-
ogy Today completes its third full year.
This issue, which deals with the general
theme “The Holy Spirit and the Christian
Life,” is fully up to the journal's high
standards. “A Theological Meditation on
Latin America” is the title of an editorial
by Dr. Mackay. Among the many stimu-
lating articles is one by Dr. F. W. Dilli-
stone, Vice-Principal of the London Col-
lege of Divinity, on “The Biblical Doctrine
of the Holy Spirit.” Professor Daniel
Lamont, of New College, Edinburgh,
writes on “Bunyan’s Holy War: A Study
in Christian Experience.” “John Donne’s
Insight” is treated by Professor Wilbur
Dwight Dunkel, of the University of
Rochester. Dr. Kerr has his “Theological
Table Talk,” and Dr. Homrighausen “The
Church in the World,” both regular fea-
tures. Theology Today provides an ideal
means of keeping in touch with most re-
cent developments in the theological world.

Student Activities

Early in the Fall Term members of the
junior class and their wives visited the
Faculty, who were gathered by depart-
ments in five professor’s homes. This af-
forded a splendid chance for Faculty and
new students to become acquainted. The
plan was first tried last spring with the
small off-season group which then entered
and proved so successful that it was re-
peated.

The Student Council has assumed re-
sponsibilities of student leadership admi-
rably, upperclassmen showing a very active
interest and sense of responsibility in
Seminary affairs. Each spring the Faculty
Committee on Student Life meets with
the outgoing and the incoming Student
Councils in a planning conference. Again
in the fall there is a meeting with the new
Student Council. This promotes under-

standing between Faculty and student
body and proves mutually helpful in facil-
itating constructive work on the campus
throughout the year.

The annual Day of Prayer was held on
November 12. Dr. Kuizenga gave the
morning address, prayer petitions were
presented by a number of students in the
afternoon, and in the evening the Moder-
ator of the General Assembly, Dr. M.
Frederick W. Evans, was the speaker. The
Day of Prayer in the fall and the some-
what similar Day of Convocation in the
spring term always prove to be among the
high points of the Seminary year.

Three retreats have been held for mem-
bers of the junior class, with about three-
fourths of the entire class attending. The
students themselves assumed a large meas-
ure of the responsibility for organizing
and promoting these this year.

Reference to the devotional life of the
Seminary would not be complete without
mention of the prayer meetings held in
the clubs each week. This year small
prayer groups have been organized in the
dormitories. The atmosphere of many of
these informal groups has been spontane-
ous and helpful.

Facing somewhat more in an academic
direction are two special interest groups.
One of these is concerned with social edu-
cation and action, and holds meetings
from time to time to which all are invited,
and distributes pertinent literature. The
other special interest group studies wor-
ship, meeting regularly for study and dis-
cussion. These non-curricular, non-credit
groups are a wholesome sign.

But no one pretends that everybody is
working all of the time! One need only
to hear the cheering during the touch foot-
ball season to have such gloomy illusions
dispelled. There are three clubs in opera-
tion — Calvin-Warfield, Benham, Friar,
and these three, together with the married
men, constitute an “ivy league.” With the

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

2 7

colder weather basketball and handball
have superseded the outdoor sports, with
some of the Faculty “trying their hand”
at handball.

Early in December the three under-
graduate classes made their annual visits
to the Church Boards, with one class vis-
iting the Boards of Christian Education
and Pensions and with the other two
visiting the Boards of Foreign Missions
and National Missions, respectively. The
experience proves interesting and inform-
ing to the visitors and lays the foundations
for more intelligent and wholehearted
support of the Church’s benevolent enter-
prises on the part of the rising generation
of pastors.

Christmas Celebration

The annual Christmas Musical Festi-
val which was to be held on Tuesday
evening, December 17 at 7 130 p.m., in
Miller Chapel, was postponed to Tuesday
evening, January 7. Four Seminary choirs
joined voices for the program. One of the
most interesting of these four groups is
the recently organized interracial Chil-
dren’s Choir of fifty voices, which sang
the soprano aria “Rejoice Greatly, O
Daughters of Zion” from Handel’s “The
Messiah.” Also performing in this pro-
gram was the newly organized Ladies
Chorus, composed of eighteen girls from
the School of Christian Education, which
sang a group of interesting Christmas
carols.

The regular Mixed Choir and the Male
Chorus of the Seminary united in the
performance of a large portion of Part I

of Handel’s “The Messiah.” Added to this
was the singing of several familiar Christ-
mas hymns by the entire congregation.

Restoration Fund

In these days when the Presbyterian
Church is much occupied with completing
in a worthy way its Restoration Fund,
news of the response made by one alum-
nus’ church is encouraging to all. Dr.
George H. Talbott, of the class of 1923,
has been ill for more than a year, but his
church, the First Presbyterian Church of
Passaic, New Jersey, has been carrying on
nobly. The church’s quota for the Resto-
ration Fund was $18,000. Not satisfied
with this, the members went to work and
raised $26,000, a most eloquent tribute to
the leadership and inspiration received
from their pastor.

Gift to Library

The Seminary Library has received
from Mr. Woodbury S. Ober a gift of
Original Leaves from Famous Bibles:
Nine Centuries, 11 21-193 5, collected and
assembled by Otto F. Ege of the Cleve-
land School of Art. Individual pages from
thirty-eight of the more famous editions
of the Bible are included, each one artisti-
cally mounted with a brief description of
the Bible from which the leaf was taken.
The first in chronological sequence is a
leaf from an Armenian manuscript dated
in A.D. 1121 ; the last is a leaf from the
Oxford Lectern Bible designed by Bruce
Rogers and printed in 1935. This valuable
collection will prove to be of great use-
fulness.

28

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

ELECTION OF ALUMNI TRUSTEES

T HE proposed agreement between the
Board of Trustees of the Seminary
of the Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A.
at Princeton in the State of New Jersey,
and the Alumni Association of Princeton
Theological Seminary regarding the elec-
tion of Alumni Trustees reads as follows:

The Board of Trustees hereby agrees to in-
sert the amendment, given below, in their By-
Laws for the purpose of implementing this
agreement and to carry out its stipulations, pro-
vided the Alumni Association accepts the fol-
lowing considerations and provisions which were
discussed and agreed to in principle at a meeting
of a special committee of the Board of Trustees
and the Alumni Council held in Princeton, New
Jersey on March 5, 1945.

1. That it is inexpedient to press for an
amendment to the Charter of the Seminary at
the present time seeking to increase the member-
ship of the Board of Trustees by six members
from the Alumni Association in order to secure
Alumni representation.

2. That the Alumni will be adequately repre-
sented on the Board of Trustees by the election
of three Alumni Trustees in the manner pro-
vided by the attached amendment to the By-
Laws of the Board of Trustees and the Board
of Trustees will preserve an essential character-
istic of the present Charter which vests the
power of election of Trustees in the Board of
Trustees, subject to their approval by the Gen-
eral Assembly.

3. That the procedures to be followed in the
making of nominations to the Board be as fol-
lows :

(a) A Committee on Nominations shall be
elected at the Alumni Meeting of the Alumni
Association, to which Committee names may be
suggested as nominees by any member of the
Alumni Association.

(b) This Committee shall, after due consid-
eration of all the names suggested to the Com-
mittee, propose three or more nominees for the
consideration of the Alumni who shall cast their
votes by mail from ballots printed in the Alumni
Bulletin.

(c) The Officers of the Alumni Council shall
act as tellers and certify annually the person
receiving the highest number of votes to the

Nominating Committee of the Board of Trus-
tees through the Secretary of said Board as the
nominee of the Alumni for said year. Such certi-
fication shall be in the hands of the Secretary
by February 1st of each year.

(d) The Administrative Committee of the
Board of Trustees and the Alumni Council are
empowered by those whom they respectively
represent to confer from time to time for the
purpose of reaching decisions about the details
of procedures in carrying out the terms of this
agreement. The powers of such conferences
shall not involve the making of any changes in
the fundamental principles of this agreement.

AMENDMENT TO CHAPTER VIII, A, OF THE BY-LAWS
OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES. ADDITIONAL
SECTION 3.

In accordance with the agreement between
this Board of Trustees and the Alumni Associa-
tion of Princeton Theological Seminary on rec-
ord in the Minutes of the Board dated May 22,
1945, the Nominating Committee shall, annually,
when nominating members of the Board, trans-
mit to the Board for its consideration the name
of the Alumnus submitted by the Alumni Asso-
ciation through the Secretary of this Board.
The Secretary shall be the medium of communi-
cation between the Board and the Association
in all that relates to the nominating and election
of Alumni Trustees.

As soon as vacancies among the ministerial
members of the Board occur, these vacancies,
to the number of one in each Class, shall be
filled by the nominee of the Alumni Association,
when duly and properly elected by the Trustees
at their Annual Meeting and approved by the
General Assembly. While in service these Alum-
ni Trustees shall have the same status and
powers as the other Trustees.

These nominees, if and when elected and ap-
proved, shall each serve for a single term of
three years; except that, if originally elected to
fill an unexpired term, an Alumni nominee shall
be eligible for election as his own successor for
a full term of three years without the renewed
nomination by the Alumni Association.

The Secretary of the Board of Trustees
offered the following resolution ratifying
the agreement:

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

29

The Alumni Association of the Theological
Seminary of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States of America in meeting assembled
on May 20, 1946, hereby ratifies the action of
the Alumni Council in completing an agreement
with the Board of Trustees for the nomination
of Alumni to be considered by the Board in
filling vacancies.

This agreement was consummated on May 21,

1945, and confirmed by the General Assembly
at its 1945 meeting.

This action is taken at the first meeting of
this Association after the war, the meetings of
this Association having been omitted during the
war emergency.

The Secretary of the Alumni Association is
instructed to transmit this action to the Board
of Trustees through the Secretary of that Board.

The resolution of ratification was unanimously
adopted.

In accordance with the above provisions
the Nominating Committee of the Alumni
Association, composed of Frederick
Schweitzer, Chairman, Frederick Druck-
enmiller, Arthur Northwood, Roland B.
Lutz, and Raymond I. Lindquist, met and
selected nominees suggested by various
alumni. Below is presented a brief bio-
graphical sketch of each candidate.

FREDERICK W. EVANS
Class of 1905
Troy, New York

Frederick W. Evans was born in Corsica,
Pennsylvania, July 17, 1880. He was graduated
by Washington and Jefferson College in 1902,
and by Princeton Seminary in 1905. Later the
degree of Master of Arts and the degree of
Doctor of Laws were conferred upon him by
Washington and Jefferson College, and the de-
gree of Doctor of Divinity by Bellevue College.
He has served the following churches : Union
Church, Coleraine, Pennsylvania, 1905 to 1906,
First Church, Steubenville, Ohio, 1906 to 1911,
Montview Boulevard Church, Denver, Colorado,
1911 to 1914, First Church of Council Bluffs,
Iowa, 1914 to 1919, Harlem-New York Church,
New York City, 1919 to 1926, Church of the
Redeemer, Paterson, New Jersey, 1926 to 1929,
Second Church of Troy, New York, 1929 to
date.

He was elected Moderator of the General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in May

1946.

ALBERT H. KLEFFMAN
Class of 1919
Wilmington, Delaware

Albert H. Kleffman was born at Scotland,
Pennsylvania, May 29, 1896. He was graduated
by Lebanon Valley College in 1916 and by
Princeton Seminary in 1919. Princeton Univer-
sity conferred the degree of Master of Arts
upon him in 1919 and Lebanon Valley College
conferred the degree of Doctor of Divinity in
1936. He has served the following churches :
Fulton Avenue Church, Baltimore, Maryland,
1929 to 1937, Stated Supply, Lakeland Church,
Baltimore, Maryland, 1924 to 1927, West
Church, Wilmington, Delaware, 1927 to the
present time.

He has served as Moderator of the Presby-
tery at Newcastle, Moderator of the Synod at
Baltimore and President of the Presbyterian
Ministers Social Union of Philadelphia. He is
on the editorial staff of Monday Morning.

JAMES W. LAURIE
Class of 1927
Buffalo, New York

James W. Laurie was born in Bellingham,
Washington, September 10, 1903. He was grad-
uated by Coe College in 1924 and by Princeton
Seminary in 1927. Princeton University con-
ferred the degree of Master of Arts upon him
in the same year. The degree of Doctor of Di-
vinity was conferred upon him by Coe College
in 1941. He has served the following churches :
Second Church, Rahway, New Jersey, 1927 to
1936, Second Church of Wilkinsburg (Pitts-
burgh) Pennsylvania, 1936 to 1942, Central
Church, Buffalo, New York, 1942 to the present
time.

He is a member of the Council on Theological
Education of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.

ROY EWING VALE
Class of 1912
Indianapolis, Indiana

Roy Ewing Vale was born at Ewington, Ohio,
May 18, 1885. He was graduated by Tusculum
College in 1909 and by Princeton Seminary in
1912. The degree of Doctor of Divinity was
conferred upon him by Washington College.
Tennessee, in 1917 and the degree of Doctor of
Laws was given him by Maryville College in
1922. He has served the following churches :
First Church, Lambertville, New Jersey, 1912
to 1913; Second Reformed Church of America,

30

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

Somerville, New Jersey, 1913 to 1917; Second
Presbyterian Church, Knoxville, Tennessee, 1917
to 1921; First Church, Oak Park, Illinois, 1921
to 1930; Woodward Avenue Church, Detroit,
Michigan, 1930 to 1940, and the Tabernacle
Church in Indianapolis, 1940 to the present time.

He has served on many of the boards and
agencies of the Church and has been President
of the Princeton Seminary Alumni Association
and Moderator of the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.

GEORGE H. SHEA
Class of 1914
Quarryville, Pennsylvania

George H. Shea was born at Chrome, Penn-
sylvania, February 29, 1888. He was graduated
by Lincoln University in 1911 and by Western
Theological Seminary in 1914. The first two
years of his Seminary course were taken at
Princeton and later he returned to the Seminary
for two years of graduate work. The degree of
Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by
Lincoln University in 1943. He has served the
Middle Octorara Church at Quarryville, Penn-
sylvania, continuously since 1915. He has served
for the past fifteen years as Stated Clerk of the
Presbytery at Donegal and Moderator of the
Synod of Pennsylvania. He is a Director of the
Red Cross of Lancaster County, a Director of
the Lancaster County Sunday School Associa-
tion and a Director of the Department of Public
Assistance of Pennsylvania.

ARTHUR M. ADAMS
Class of 1934
Albany, New York

Arthur M. Adams was born in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, September 28, 1908. He was
graduated by the University of Pennsylvania in
1931 and by Princeton Seminary in 1934. He
served the Glading Memorial Presbyterian
Church in Philadelphia from 1934 to 1944 and
has been Pastor of the First Church of Albany,
New York, since 1945.

WILLIAM F. McCLAIN
Class of 1935
Latrobe, Pennsylvania

William F. McClain was born in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, October 10, 1911. He was grad-
uated by Muskegon College in 1932 and by
Princeton Seminary in 1935. He served the
Olivet Church of Easton, Pennsylvania, from

1935 to 1942, at which time he entered the
chaplaincy of the United States Navy. He
served in the Navy with the Fourth Regiment
from 1942 to 1945, being attached to the Marine
Corps. He was awarded the bronze star for
service under fire. Since 1945 he has been Pas-
tor of the Church at Latrobe.

RICHARD C. SMITH
Class of 1940

Morgantown, West Virginia

Richard C. Smith was born in Morrisville,
New York, on December 14, 1914. He was grad-
uated by Hope College in 1937 and by Prince-
ton Seminary in 1940. The degree of Master of
Theology was conferred upon him by Princeton
Seminary in 1941. Immediately following his
graduation he became Director of the Shack,
Christian Neighborhood House, Pursglove, West
Virginia, a project under the Board of National
Missions. Recently he was made Missions Su-
pervisor of the Mountaineers Mining Mission
in two counties of West Virginia. His work
among the miners received extensive recogni-
tion in recent issues of Time and Life. He has
received the Distinguished Service Award of
the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce for serv-
ice to the State of West Virginia. He is Vice-
moderator of the Synod of West Virginia and
is Chairman of the Committee on Social Educa-
tion and Action for the Synod of West Virginia
and for the West Virginia Council of Churches.
He is the author of International Radio Produc-
tions Series, “Victorious Living.”

C. RALSTON SMITH
Class of 1937
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

C. Ralston Smith was born in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, on February 21, 1908. He was
graduated by Asbury College in 1934 and by
Princeton Seminary in 1937. From 1937 to 1940
he served as Assistant Pastor in the First
Church of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and since
1940 has been Pastor of the Pine Street Church
in Harrisburg.

S. CARSON WASSON
Class of 1935
Wayne, Pennsylvania

S. Carson Wasson was born in Churchville,
Maryland, on December 9, 1908. He was grad-
uated by Johns Hopkins University in 1930 and
by Princeton Seminary in 1935. After serving

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

3i

as Assistant Pastor at St. Paul Church, Phila-
delphia, for two years, he became Pastor of the
First Church of Jeannette, Pennsylvania, where
he served for three years. Since 1940 he has
been Pastor of the Church at Wayne, Pennsyl-
vania.

He is Chairman of the General Council’s
Special Committee on Monday Morning, Book
Review Editor of The Presbyterian, and several
of his articles have appeared in the Atlantic
Monthly.

Inserted in this Bulletin is the ballot
for Alumni Trustees. Please follow the
instructions carefully and mail your ballot
immediately. Due to delay in the publica-
tion of this Bulletin certification of the
results of the election will be made to the
Secretary of the Board of Trustees as
soon after February 1st, 1947, as possible.

SCHOOL OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

A three-year course leading to the de-
gree of M.R.E. (Prin.) for college gradu-
ates, both men and women, and designed
to prepare them for full time Christian
service as teachers of the Christian re-
ligion in schools and colleges, directors of

religious education, ministers’ assistants,
missionary educators at home and abroad.
For further information address :
Edward Howell Roberts
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton, N.J.

HELPING THE CHAPLAIN

Chaplains continue to return home from
the service. Many of them are taking re-
fresher courses at the Seminary. They
wish to secure churches as soon as possible.
Their most difficult problem is securing a
hearing, as the Committee of a vacant
church cannot hear them preach in their
own church, for they have none as yet. The
General Assembly has wisely advised that

no candidate be heard in the pulpit of a
vacant church until the committee on se-
curing a pastor is ready to recommend
him unanimously to the congregation.

Alumni can render a great service to
the returning Chaplains by offering their
pulpits to them for a Sunday. If you are
ready to do this please communicate with
the Office of the Dean of the Seminary.

32

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

ALUMNI NOTES

[ 1893]

On Thanksgiving Day Dean Richmond Leland
returned to his former parish, the Tyler Place
Church, St. Louis, Mo., to be the Golden Jubilee
speaker.

[ 1903 ]

G. M. Whitenack, Jr., is head of the Depart-
ment of Mathematics at the National Farm
School and Junior College, Doylestown, Pa.

[ 1913 ]

On January 1st William B. Bell will become
Minister of Education in Immanuel Church,
Los Angeles, Calif.

[ 1915 1

H. Ray Shear has been called by Pittsburgh-
Xenia Seminary to the chair of Homiletics and
Practical Theology.

[ 1917]

Edward G. Seel has relinquished his work in
Colombia to accept the Presidency of The Poly-
technic Institute, San Germain, Puerto Rico.

Ernest E. Eels is in charge of the Atlanta,
Ga., Office of the Presbyterian Minister’s Fund.

[ 1919 ]

The First Church of Lake Crystal, Minn., has
called J. Rhys Roberts.

On November 25th Frederick Schweitzer was
inaugurated as President of Bloomfield College
and Seminary.

[ 1922 ]

Walter A. Groves has been called to the
Presidency of Centre College, Danville, Ky.

The State Department has sent Robert F.
Ogden to Syria and Lebanon as Chief Public
Affairs Officer.

[ 1924 ]

Morris Zutrau is working as a missionary
with The Friends of Israel in San Francisco,
Calif.

[ 1925 ]

Raymond I. Brahams has been elected a mem-
ber of the Board of Trustees of Occidental Col-
lege, Los Angeles, Calif.

Woodridge O. Johnson, Jr., has been called
to the Faculty of Park College, Parkville, Mo.

[ 1929 ]

Paul N. Poling, pastor of the First Church of
El Paso, Texas, has accepted the position of
Director of the Department of Social Education
and Action under the Board of Christian Educa-
tion.

[ 1930 ]

James M. Barnett has accepted a call to the
church at Bellevue, Pa.

The church at Waterman, 111., has called
Adolph F. Broman.

Harry J. Scheidemantle has accepted a call
from the First Church of Columbus Grove,
Ohio.

[ 1931 ]

After serving as a Chaplain in the Navy, C.
Ransom Comfort, Jr., was installed on Septem-
ber 4 as pastor of the Fourth Church, Louis-
ville, Ky.

[ 1932 ]

The First and Osborn Churches of Cedarville.
N.J., have called Rowland H. White, who had
served as a Chaplain in the Navy.

[ 1934 ]

James Aiken, Jr., has accepted a call from
the Arlington Heights Church, Ft. Worth,
Texas.

On November 25th George Wendell Jung was
installed as Vice President of Bloomfield Col-
lege and Seminary.

Lynn B. Rankin is now pastor of the First
Church of Pikeville, Ky.

David L. Wood is minister to students at
Mississippi State College, State College, Miss.

[ 1935 1

Major Glen Cowden Shaffer has been as-
signed Command Chaplain of the European
Transport Service. His wife and son expect to
join him in Wiesbaden, Germany.

[ 1936 ]

During the summer L. David Cowie, pastor
of the Linwood Church, Kansas City, Mo., made
an extended visit to Latin America. On a Sun-
day morning he preached in the Union Evan-
gelical Church, Guatemala City.

Frank R. Neff is Assistant Professor of Bible

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

33

and Chaplain of Trinity University, San An-
tonio, Texas.

James E. Spivey has been installed pastor of
the First Church, Bartlesville, Okla.

Centenary College, Shreveport, La., has ap-
pointed Leroy Vogel as Professor of European
History.

[ 1937 ]

Harold S. Faust has been called to Christ
Church, Overbrook Hills, Philadelphia, Pa.

The church at Windsor, N.Y., has called
Francis H. Scott and he has accepted.

John A. Troxler has accepted a call to the
Westminster Church, Decatur, Ala.

The church at Freeport, Pa., has called Wil-
liam G. Vincent.

Allan Winn has been installed pastor of the
Third Church, Trenton, N.J.

[ 1938]

On December nth Bryant M. Kirkland was
installed pastor of the First Church, Haddon-
field, N.J.

Vernon P. Martin, Jr., is Director of the
Westminster Foundation at the University of
Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Birchwood Church, Bellingham, Wash.,
has called Everett O. Williams.

[ 1939 ]

Norman McCowan Dunsmore has left for
Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he will be working
among university students.

T. Murdock Hale has accepted a call to the
First Church, Barre, Vermont.

Manuel F. Conceicao is serving a mission field
at Lisbon, Portugal.

Harry K. Gayley has accepted a call to the
pastorate of the Elkland and Osceola Churches,
Pennsylvania.

After a term of study at the Seminary, Homer
L. Goddard, Jr., has returned to his pastorate
of the church at Walnut Creek, Calif.

Donald C. Kerr has accepted a call from the
Benedict Memorial Church, New Haven, Conn.

Samuel G. Warr has been called to the First
Church of Williamsport, Pa.

[ i94i ]

Duncan N. Naylor is serving as a Chaplain
in the regular Army.

George L. Rentschler is serving as assistant
pastor of the First Church, Birmingham, Mich.

[ 1942 ]

William J. J. Herron is now the leader of the
Wales Region of Toe H, a British interdenom-
inational movement for men. He is Editor of

The New Forum , a new Christian Quarterly in
Britain.

The church at Scottdale, Pa., has called Wil-
liam R. Johnston.

Gustavus Warfield has accepted a call to the
Dewey Avenue Church of Rochester, N.Y.

[ 1943 ]

Michael R. Costanzo has accepted a call from
the College Hill Church, Cincinnati, Ohio, to
serve as minister of Christian Education.

Theodore A. Gill is studying at the University
of Zurich, Switzerland.

On September 27 th Otto Gruber was installed
pastor of the First Church of La Salle, Colo.

Greer S. Imbrie is studying at the Univer-
sity of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Joe L. Jensen, Jr., has been called to the pas-
torate of the church at Mason City, 111.

On October 22 nd Joseph E. McCabe was in-
stalled pastor of the First Church of Lambert-
ville, N.J.

Robert Lewis was installed pastor of the
Church of the Messiah, Paterson, N.J., in Oc-
tober.

Robert K. Staley, Jr., is a student at the Uni-
versity of Zurich, Switzerland.

[ 1944]

Frank Carter has undertaken work as Direc-
tor of Religious Education in the First Church
of Enid, Okla.

B. Franklin Elser is teaching in the Wasatch
Academy, Mount Pleasant, Utah.

Malcolm McCullough has left for his mission
field at Changteh, Hunan, China.

Allen G. Moore has accepted a call to the
church at Aberdeen, Md.

The First Church of Springport and the
churches of Union Springs and Cayuga, N.Y.,
have called Andrew F. O’Connor.

Merlin F. Rood is serving as assistant pastor
in the church at Bryn Mawr, Pa.

Daniel C. Thomas is serving as assistant pas-
tor in the North Avenue Church, New Rochelle,
N.Y.

Bokko Tsuchiyama, while waiting for per-
mission of the State Department to return to
his homeland, has accepted the invitation of the
Seattle Pacific College, Seattle, Wash., to teach
Christian Theology, Christian Ethics, Biblical
Theology, Religions of the World, Missionary
Principles and Christian Education.

[ 1945 ]

Henry Bajema has accepted a call from the
Christian Reformed Church of Lebanon. His
address is R.R.i, Sioux City, Iowa

34

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

Kenneth R. Boyd is associate pastor of the
Park Boulevard Church, Oakland, Calif.

Paul L. Morris is pastor of the church at
Holmes, Pa.

The church at New Salem, Pa., called Robert
E. Osman and he has begun his work with that
congregation.

John T. Underwood is studying Korean at
the Institute of Chinese Languages and Litera-
ture. His address is 116 Park Ave., Hamden,
Conn.

Paul D. Votaw has gone from the Newman
School of Missions in Jerusalem to the Ameri-
can Mission at Beirut, Syria.

Jack W. Ware was installed pastor of the
Prospect Heights Church, Brooklyn, N.Y., on
December io.

PLANS OF THE CLASS OF 1946

Suran W. Antablin, pastor, East Trenton
Church, Trenton, N.J.

Peter James Bakker, pastor, Baptist Church,
Cottage Grove, Oregon.

William O. Bembower, pastor, Mount Calvary
Church, Philadelphia, Pa.

Carl E. Blanford, pastor, Post Falls, Idaho.

Keene Hedges Capers, Chaplain in the United
States Navy.

Arnold V. Cigliano, assistant pastor, First
Church, New Rochelle, N.Y.

Robert A. Cornett, pastor in the Christian
Church.

George R. Cox, Jr., pastor, First Church,
New Gretna, N.J.

Richard E. Craven, assistant pastor, Third
Church, Elizabeth, N.J.

John A. Cressman, pastor, Alexandria First
Church, Milford, N.J.

Albert G. Dezso, pastor, Waverly Park
Church, Newark, N.J.

William R. Dupree, pastor, Frenchtown, N.J.

Benjamin Hoyt Evans, pastor, Presbyterian
Church (U.S.), Franklin, N.C.

Duane U. Farris, assistant pastor, Kennett
Square, Pa.

Donald H. Gard, further study, University
of Zurich, Switzerland.

Manfred L. Geisler, further study in Medicine,
Graduate School, Denver University, Denver,
Colo.

William A. Gibson, Jr., pastor, Susquehanna,
Pa.

Alan G. Gripe, foreign missions, present ad-
dress 712 Wright Street, Manila, P.I.

Graden John Grobe, pastor, First Church,
Alta, Iowa.

Roger A. Huber, assistant pastor, Second
Church, Philadelphia, Pa.

James W. Huling, pastor, Delaware Water
Gap, Pa.

William S. James, further study, Edinburgh,
Scotland.

Glen M. Johnson, stated supply, Three Hills,
Alberta, Canada.

James Hackett Johnson, assistant pastor, Lin-
coln Ave. Church, Pasadena, Calif.

Harold B. Keen, assistant pastor, First
Church, Jamestown, N.Y.

Robert Kevorkian, further study, Eastern
Baptist Seminary, Philadelphia, Pa.

Marcus Allen Kimble, assistant pastor, First
Church, Westfield, N.J.

Thomas W. Kirkman, Jr., assistant pastor.
House of Hope Church, St. Paul, Minn.

Norman A. Krebbs, further study, University
of Chicago, Chicago, 111 .

Henry A. Kuehl, Jr., teacher in Moravian
College and Seminary, Bethlehem, Pa.

Robert W. McClellan, pastor, Frankford
Church, Philadelphia, Pa.

Robert Owen McLeod, pastor, Keewatin,
Minn.

William Lawrence Meyer has left for his
mission field in China.

Harold L. Meyers, Jr., assistant pastor, Cove-
nant Church, Springfield, Ohio

Winston Thure Moberg, not yet settled.

David A. Neely, pastor, Ray land, Ohio, for-
eign missions later.

John Edward Neff, national missions, Purs-
glove, W.Va.

Richard E. Neumann, pastor, First Church,
Roscoe, N.Y.

Albert B. Newport, pastor, Wissahickon, Pa.

Samuel G. Orlandi, further study, Princeton
Seminary.

Harry P. Phillips, Jr., further study, Edin-
burgh, Scotland.

John I. Prather, pastor, Deerfield, N.J.

Richard C. Redfield, further study. Present
address 351 Maripose Ave., Los Angeles, Calif.

John D. Reid, assistant pastor, Westside
Church, Englewood, N.J.

Alfonso A. Rodriguez, further study, Prince-
ton Seminary.

Arthur H. Rust, pastor, Presbyterian Church
(U.S.), Live Oak, Fla.

Edward V. Stein, Director of Christian Edu-
cation, Angeles Mesa Church, Los Angeles,
Calif.

Ernest A. Toth, pastor, First Church, Bril-
liant, Ohio.

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

35

Robert S. Vogt, assistant pastor, Calvary
Church, San Francisco, Calif.

Allison Flint Williams, further study, Union
Seminary, Richmond, Va.

Robert Spence Williamson, national missions,
Swananoa, N.C.

Paul Hunter Wilson, pastor, Northville, N.Y.
Frank Thomas Woodward, further study,
Princeton Seminary.

Robert C. Young, assistant pastor, Second
Church, Kansas City, Mo.

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36

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

BOOK REVIEWS

Light from the Ancient Past — the Ar-
cheological Background of the Hehrew-
Christian Religion, by Jack Finegan.
Princeton University Press, 1946. Pp.
xxxiv + 500 + 204 illustrations on 1 16 ex-
tra pages in nine groups in the volume.
$6.00.

The author of this book, who is a pupil of the
late Professor Hans Lietzmann, is a minister
of the Disciples of Christ and director of reli-
gious activities at Iowa State College, Ames, la.
He has given us a very comprehensive work
beginning with the predynastic periods in Baby-
lonia and Egypt and concluding with the church-
es of Constantinople. The book contains nine
main divisions, of which four are related to the
Old Testament : Mesopotamian Beginnings, The
Panorama of Egypt, Penetrating the Past in
Palestine, Empires of Western Asia — Assyria,
Chaldea and Persia.

The first 208 pages are devoted to the Orien-
tal panorama of the Old Testament. Dr. Fine-
gan has consulted the latest archaeological
works, which are carefully cited in the foot-
notes; for this reason the book serves a useful
purpose in putting the student on the right
track of the latest literature of the subject. The
writer, however, does not merely present archae-
ology, but also Oriental history in his resumes
of Egypt, Babylonia from the earliest times to
the Chaldeans, Assyria, and Persia. The history
of the Hittites, however, has been dismissed
with two pages; in this connexion there is an
inconsistency in writing Hittite names ; Sub-
biluliuma does not have final -sh, which is used
in the cases of the names of the other Hittite
kings. No history of the Hebrew kingdoms is
given, but we find an excellent summary of the
archaeological periods in Palestine and of the
excavations and discoveries relating to Hebrew
times. About half a page is devoted to Alexander
the Great and a page and a half to his succes-
sors. Ras Shamra receives three pages, and
here Finegan notes a connexion between Ugari-
tic Zabul and Beelzebub (Mark 3 122) ; the rela-
tion, however, would have been brought out
still closer if he had quoted the Greek form
Beelzebul in the N.T. passage and compared
it with Ugaritic Z e bul Ba'al (abode of Baal),
where Z e bul may be personified as deity.

On account of the immense field covered, ine-
qualities of emphasis in history are bound to
occur in a work of this nature. An impression
of disjointedness, however, might have been
somewhat avoided if a synchronistic table had
been offered and correlations made with im-
portant landmarks in the “Hebrew-Christian
Religion.” The migration of Abraham from
Mesopotamia “in response to a divine call and
promise” is recognized (p. 57) as “the initial
act of faith which made possible the unfolding
of all later Hebrew history.” The writer, how-
ever, does not pursue Biblical Theology any
further, but sees close connexions with Egypt
(p. 1 16) : “In Egypt it has also been possible
to trace ‘the dawn of conscience’ which meant
so much to the Hebrew prophets and to all
mankind.”

The author’s main interest, however, is in
New Testament archaeology, and in 250 pages
five sections are devoted to this field: The Holy
Land in the Time of Jesus, Following Paul
the Traveler, Manuscripts Found in the Sand,
Exploring the Catacombs and Studying the
Sarcophagi, and The Story of Ancient Church-
es. Section VII on the manuscripts is interest-
ing and informing, but in the third part Finegan
concentrates on the manuscripts of Paul’s let-
ters. In a work of this sort we should have ex-
pected a discussion of Biblical manuscripts in
general. In this connexion he refers (p. 324)
to “a double leaf of a papyrus codex, written
in a hand probably of the fourth century, and
containing verses from different parts of the
Septuagint.” Since this book is devoted to the
whole Bible, it seems very strange that he does
not bring in the Chester Beatty papyri of the
Old Testament nor mention the John H. Scheide
Biblical papyri (Ezekiel) of the late second or
early third century A.D. A discussion of Hebrew
manuscripts and the finds of the Genizah also
would have been in order. On p. 352 Finegan
observes that “the certainty with which the
text of the New Testament is established ex-
ceeds that of any other ancient book.” The
reviewer believes that we could also maintain
that from a study of the Masoretic text in com-
parison with the ancient versions we know as
much about the text of the Old Testament as
we do of that of Shakespeare.

The illustrations are excellent and contain a
wealth of concrete information. Six maps and

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

37

four plans, which add to the usefulness of the
book, are included. An index of Scriptural
quotations and a full general index are appended
to the volume. The author is to be commended
for having done this comprehensive survey so
well, and the Princeton University Press is to
be congratulated for having produced this hand-
some volume. The book can be read by the
layman without difficulty, and it can be used
with profit by the scholar and all students of
the Bible.

Henry S. Gehman

The River Jordan: Being an Illustrated
Account of Earth's most Storied River ,
by Nelson Glueck. The Westminster Press,
Philadelphia, 1946. Pp. xvi + 268. $3.50.

This is a fascinating work on Palestinian
geography written by the world’s leading author-
ity on the archaeology of Transjordan. Dr.
Glueck, who is on leave of absence from the
Hebrew Union College, where he is professor
of Bible and Biblical Archaeology, is now the
Director of the American School of Oriental
Research at Jerusalem. He is thoroughly ac-
quainted with the land and the people of Pales-
tine, Transjordan, and the region between the
Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqabah, and his per-
sonality is reflected upon almost every page.
The work not only contains facts, but is written
with a literary sense and a religious apprecia-
tion of the Land and the Book; numerous
quotations from Scripture, both Old and New
Testament, are given at appropriate places.
Glueck well says : “Palestine became spiritu-
ally what the facts of geography had made it
physically, the focal point of the world, with
Jerusalem its central city and the Jordan the
world’s central stream.” This river was central
in the lives of Elijah, John the Baptist, and
Jesus, and for this reason as well as others the
book is well named.

The work contains eight chapters: The Jor-
dan Rift, The Lake District, “A Garden of
God,” The Highlands of Transjordan, Moun-
tain Streams and Valley Cities: (1) The Lower
Basin, (2) The Upper Basin, Path of Pilgrims,
! and The Plains of Moab.

It is important to read this book for the
latest identification of certain sites. Thus Abel-
meholah is placed at Tell el-Maqlub on the
Wadi Yabis (River Jabesh), east of the Jor-
dan. The original site of Beth-jeshimoth is
located not at Khirbet Suweimeh, but at Tell

Azeimeh to the east. The Brook Cherith may
have been one of the easternmost branches of
the Wadi Yabis. Jabesh-gilead is located on
this wadi at the double site of Tell Abu Kharaz
and Tell el-Meqbereh; in I Kings 17:1, where
the provenance of Elijah is given, Glueck pro-
poses the reading: “Elijah the Jabeshite, of
Jabesh-gilead.”

This authoritative book is never dull. Varia-
tions of climate in Palestine are thus vividly de-
scribed : “I have on a December day sat and
soaked up the sunshine in Jericho, and then
driven to Jerusalem an hour later to shiver in
the wintry blasts at large there.” A graphic de-
scription of Rahab the harlot is given in con-
nexion with Jericho. In epigrammatic fashion
Herod the Great is characterized as a champion
of the Jews, a friend of the Romans, and an ad-
mirer of the Greeks ; in speaking of the end of
this king, Glueck observes that he spent his
last days in Jericho, “rotting away into a miser-
able death, like an overipe melon in the hot
sun.” The book abounds with such flashes.

With his archaeological interests Glueck gives
us some idea of the span of time through which
civilization has passed. By combining the evi-
dence of the Mount Carmel caves and the city
of Jericho “one can sketch an outline of man’s
activities in Palestine for a period of over one
hundred thousand years.” The observation is
also made that five or six thousand, perhaps even
seven thousand, years ago irrigation agriculture
was practised in the plains of Moab and through-
out most of the Jordan Valley. Yet with it all,
the place of God in history remains paramount.

A special feature of the work is the one hun-
dred-thirteen full-page pictures, which in them-
selves are worth more than the price of the
volume. The sinuous course of the Jordan is
well illustrated on a number of these plates. An
excellent map of Palestine is included inside
both covers, and indexes to the text and to the
Biblical citations appear at the end of the book.
Glueck has succeeded in making the ancient
past live in the present situation, and the re-
viewer heartily recommends this fine work to
all ministers as well as to students and teachers
of the Bible.

Henry S. Gehman

The Apocryphal Literature: A Brief
Introduction, by Charles Cutler Torrey.
Yale University Press, New Haven, 1945.
pp. x+151. $3.00.

Ever since May, 1827, when the British and
Foreign Bible Society adopted the rule against

38

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

the circulation “of those Books, or parts of
Books, which are usually termed Apocryphal,”
the use of the Apocrypha in the churches of both
England and the United States has dwindled to
a very low ebb. The value of the Apocrypha for
the Bible student, however, cannot be overes-
timated, for these books contain the source ma-
terial not only for the history of the intertesta-
mental period, but also for the significant theo-
logical developments which prepared in so many
ways the setting for the New Testament period.
This brief but thorough survey of the use of
the Apocrypha in the Church (Part I), and of
each of the books themselves (Part II), by
such a competent authority as Dr. Torrey is in-
deed a welcome boon not only to Biblical schol-
arship in general, but to the teacher and stu-
dent in the classroom in particular.

It should be made clear at the outset that
Dr. Torrey includes in the term “apocrypha”
both groups of books commonly classified as
“apocrypha and pseudepigrapha.” In this he
follows Jerome and the early church. He also
suggests the rabbinic designation, “the outside
books,” as an equally admirable term. It is for
this reason that instead of the usual twelve or
fifteen (depending on whether the Additions to
Daniel are taken individually or as a whole)
books discussed in the “introductions” to the
Apocrypha, 1 there are twenty-six different works
discussed in this volume. When compared with
the great corpus of this literature in English,
edited by R. H. Charles ( The Apocrypha and
Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, 2 vols.
Oxford, 1913), the present work is found to lack
four books, namely, “The Letter of Aristeas,”
“Pirke Aboth,” “The Story of Ahikar” and
“The Fragments of a Zadokite Work.” It in-
cludes two works, however, which are not found
in Charles’s edition, namely, “The Testament
of the Twelve Patriarchs” and “The Lives of
the Prophets.” The author also asserts that “we
have no particle of evidence of a separate docu-
ment, Jewish or Christian, that could be en-
titled ‘The Martyrdom of Isaiah’” (p. 135).
In the discussion of each individual work in
the second part of the book, the original lan-
guage, date and contents are given, together
with the pertinent bibliography.

On page seven, in a footnote, the author con-
veniently classifies the apocryphal literature ac-

1 Cf. Oesterley, W.O.E., An Introduction to
the Books of the Apocrypha, London, 1937 ;
Goodspeed, E.J., The Story of the Apocrypha,
Chicago, 1939. Both of these, by the way, are
omitted from Torrey’s bibliography on the Apoc-
rypha on p. 43.

cording to the original language in which each
book was written. One might infer from this
listing that no problems any longer exist in re-
gard to this matter, but that is certainly not the
case. In fact, throughout the book the author
presents his views again and again as final with-
out giving enough evidence or proof, and with-
out giving other points of view. This is due of
course to the limited amount of space that can
be devoted to technical problems in a work like
this.

As a concise, up-to-date and authoritative dis-
cussion of the apocryphal literature, this book
is heartily recommended. Every Bible student
should own this trustworthy guide into a rela-
tively unknown, yet important, field of Biblical
study.

Charles T. Fritsch

Revelation in Jewish Wisdom Litera-
ture, by J. Coert Rylaarsdam. The Uni-
versity of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1946.
Pp. 128. $3.00.

The problem of revelation has in recent
years become increasingly important for theo-
logical and Biblical studies. On the one hand,
there are those who approach theology from
the point of view of a comparative study of
religions, looking upon the Old Testament as ;i
merely the history of the growth of the Jewish
religion. On the other hand, the neo-Orthodox
school stresses the supernatural and transcenden-
tal character of revelation. In other words,
“Does the human mind in its exercise of free-
dom and in its capacity for observation, experi-
mentation, and analysis, discover the true way
of life. ... Or are men, at least some of them,
given special aid over and above this ‘natural’
endowment?” Within the confines of Jewish
Wisdom literature, i.e., the books of Proverbs,
Job, Ecclesiastes, the Wisdom of Jesus ben
Sirach, the Wisdom of Solomon, Baruch, IV
Maccabees and the Pirke Aboth, the author
deals with this problem. Dr. Rylaarsdam’s point
of view is clearly set forth in his defining the
problem of revelation as “the manner and means
in and by which men come to possess a knowl-
edge both of the true goals of life and of the
way by which they can attain them.”

The author points out that common to Egyp-
tian, Babylonian and Jewish Wisdom Litera-
ture are certain basic doctrines, such as rewards
for goodness, the doctrine of duty, the creature-
liness of man, and the hidden, divine design of
providence. According to this book, this school
of Wisdom in Israel began apparently unre-

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

39

lated to the national religious tradition; this is
clearly shown in the canonical books of Prov-
erbs, Job and Ecclesiastes. Later, however, it
was submerged by and lost in the rabbinism
which identified Wisdom with the Divine Torah.

According to Rylaarsdam, there have been
two classes of thinkers throughout the history
of the Wisdom movement, whether in Israel
or among the other nations of antiquity, namely,
the optimists and the pessimists. For the former
the problem of revelation is not acute. For them
the world is governed by reason and morality,
the ultimate norm of which man is able to dis-
cover by his own rational faculties. Those who
obey Yahweh will be rewarded in this life, since
Yahweh is not only sovereign, but rational and
moral as well. This search for wisdom carried
on by man is unaided by any divine initiative
or special gift. Not that the religious character
is lost sight of, since man is a creature, en-
dowed by God with rational faculties ; revela-
tion, in this way, is purely natural by virtue of
man’s creation.

The author continues in Chapter IV by stat-
ing that for the pessimists within the Wisdom
School, the problem of revelation is of supreme
importance. The writers of Job and Ecclesi-
astes despair of understanding the nature of life.
Life is disappointing and seemingly irrational.
God is inscrutable and so are his ways. God
does not even seem to be true to the moral
character ascribed to him. A sense of tragedy
and futility pervades the writings of the earlier
pessimists. The only alternative to complete
despair was the introduction of grace. A strong
tendency towards “irrationalism” became appar-
ent, though the “line between the two focuses,
nature and grace, does not seem to have bro-
ken.” Divine Wisdom now becomes the inter-
mediary between the inscrutable God and de-
spairing man. Empirical verification is surrend-
ered; the new faith relies upon the Law as an
unerring expression of the Divine Wisdom.

Since Divine Wisdom became the instru-
ment of special enlightenment and revelation,
the writer maintains in Chapter V, it is but
natural that it be compared with the concept of
Spirit. In the Wisdom of Solomon the functions
attributed by the Old Testament writers to the
Spirit are transferred to Divine Wisdom. But
the Spirit, unlike Wisdom, was never identified
with the Law. As a result, it remained “con-
temporaneous with the world into which it
came.” In this way, by the transference of the
functions of the Spirit to Divine Wisdom, the
latter was fully centered in human conscious-
ness and experience.

In an unfortunate conclusion, the author
pleads for more freedom within the Church for
the movement of the Spirit. Such men as
“Luther, Fox, Wesley, and many others were
nourished by the inner light of the Spirit that
made them ‘speak with authority’ — they had a
living Word, a Divine Wisdom.” It is to be
questioned whether Paul’s settlement of doctri-
nal issues by an appeal to his possession of the
Spirit can be considered as normative for pres-
ent day thinkers. How is one to test the Spirit?
Since the Spirit’s role lies “in the intimacy of
individual human experience” all objectivity is
lost. Any Joseph Smith, Charles Taze Russell,
or Father Divine may claim possession of the
Spirit, and who is to say him, Nay?

John Wm. W evers

The Re-Discovery of the Old Testa-
ment, by H. H. Rowley. The Westminster
Press, Philadelphia, 1946. Pp. 320. $3.00.

We are indebted to the scholars of the nine-
teenth century for a scientific historical outlook
on the Old Testament. Due to linguistic and
archaeological discoveries as well as historical
and literary studies, the Old Testament Scrip-
tures have become a fascinating record of an-
cient times. The covenant people are no longer
looked upon as living in a vacuum, but as mov-
ing in the historical milieu of their times. It
is no longer necessary to depend merely upon
the Old Testament for historical materials; a
vast amount of evidence has been made avail-
able to us in the course of the last one hundred
years to supplement our knowledge of ancient
times.

But a historical approach to the Scriptures
is not enough. Great as the contributions of the
schools of historical and literary criticism have
been, a mere historical understanding of the
Old Testament is not the goal of Biblical study.
The Bible is not primarily a text-book for his-
tory; it is a revelation of God’s dealings with
men and His purpose for their lives. A re-dis-
covery of the Old Testament as a religious book,
as a book filled with spiritual values, becomes
increasingly necessary. In his latest book Dr.
Rowley gives to his readers “a fuller apprehen-
sion of the religious meaning of this most won-
derful Book.” The author, however, in no way
minimizes his indebtedness to the former gen-
eration of scholars ; rather he attempts to inte-
grate the results of scientific study of the Old
Testament with a theological approach and on
the basis of this integration to re-discover it<*
spiritual values.

40

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

The author has succeeded admirably in popu-
larizing the distinctive message of the Old Tes-
tament without sacrificing scholarship. There
is no elaborate documentation; the book is not
intended for specialists, but for the intelligent
reader who, though interested in what the Old
Testament has to say, has not had technical
training in the minutiae of scholarship. Not
that the foundations are disregarded; the au-
thor rather builds upon them. Each chapter
deals with a distinct aspect of the Old Testa-
ment. In particular, the chapters on “The Goal
of History” and “The Fulfilment of the Old Tes-
tament in the New” constitute a much-needed
corrective for the study of Old Testament Mes-
sianism and Prophecy.

The tendency in the last century of Old Tes-
tament scholarship has been to regard the Old
Testament as a record of man’s groping after
God. Since the appearance of Walther Eich-
rodt’s epochal three-volume Theologie des Alten
Testaments (1933-39), however, more and more
scholars are recognizing the Old Testament as
a record of God’s progressive revelation to man.
Formerly, in one school of thought prophecy
was regarded as a “purely human process.”
Many moderns “have traced the prophet’s word
no further than to himself, and have dissolved
all revelation into discovery. In their hands the
story of prophecy has become the story of men’s
interest in men, or of their search after a God
who may or may not exist, but who is at best
relevant only as the goal of the process, and
not as an agent.” Prophets, according to Row-
ley, are “messengers of God, extensions of the
divine personality. . . . The prophet’s message
was always first and foremost a revelation of
God.”

But the fact that God reveals Himself in the
Old Testament does not mean that revelation
is static. There is evident throughout the Can-
on a progressive perception of the character
of God. Thus in the early history of Israel,
the people looked upon the ruthless slaughter
of the inhabitants of Jericho and other cities as
bearing the full approval of Yahweh. Through
a gradual sensitivizing of their ethical percep-
tion, however, Israel learns to see God as a
God who loves justice and mercy, and has ap-
pointed His people as agents of redemption.

It is for that purpose that Israel is chosen.
The Exodus is the great redemptive act in the
Old Testament, and it colors all of later his-
tory and prophecy. But to consider the deliver-
ance from Egypt as a redemption merely for
Israel’s own sake is to miss the goal of divine
election. God’s choice of a nation or of indi-

viduals is for service. Israel had a mission to
perform ; she was to “mediate unto the world
the treasures into which she was led.” This
mission was most clearly seen in the Servant
Songs of Deutero-Isaiah. The purpose of Is-
rael’s election is “the service of God through
the service of men, and the making known to
the Gentiles of the character and will of God.
The privilege and honour of Israel in being
chosen of God is great indeed, but it is the
privilege and honour of service.”

This prophetic mission found its real fulfil-
ment in Christ. In Christ “the hopes of the
prophets were not so much realized as trans-
muted, and given a higher realization than their
authors dreamed.” But “in a far wider sense
the New Testament gathers into itself the mis-
sion and message of the Old.” In fact, “just as
prophecies are transformed in the process of
fulfilment, so in the wider field, the full sig-
nificance of the Old is only seen in the light
of the New.” To study the Old Testament with-
out reference to the New is to miss the essen-
tial unity of the complete revelation of God
altogether.

The author of this refreshing work began his
teaching career on the mission field as Associate
Professor of the Old Testament in the Shantung
Christian University. He is now Professor of
Semitic Languages and Literatures in the Vic-
toria University of Manchester.

John Wm. Wevers

Eyes of Faith: A Study in the Biblical
Point of View , by Paul Sevier Minear.
Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1946.
p P- 3°7- $3-00.

While after the first World War European
Biblical scholarship placed increasing emphasis
upon problems of Biblical theology American
theologians were, in the whole, satisfied with the
sterile continuation of textual, literary and his-
torical criticism of the old liberal type. Not until
the early forties did a change of outlook occur,
and it took another half of a decade until the
first serious reaction to the new European ap-
proach came to light on this side of the Atlantic.
To have done so is the great historical signifi-
cance of Dr. M inear’s recent book. It is amply
studded with quotations from Brunner, Buber,
Kierkegaard, Hebert, N. Davey, Rowley, A.
Guillaume and others, yet it is not a mere repeti-
tion of what the Continentals have said and
thought. Rather it is the answer given to Euro-
pean theology by an American, who did not
disdain taking it seriously.

THE PRINCETON SEMIN ARY BULLETIN

4i

This book is not exactly a Biblical theology.
Following a widespread trend in American
theology it is a study in the fields of religious
epistemology and psychology. But unlike so
many other dissertations on this subject it
takes its start from the Bible, not from philo-
sophical speculations, for instance on the rela-
tionship of reason and revelation. This depar-
ture implies that the realities of which the Bible
speaks have to be given full weight. Dr. Minear
discovers that the Biblical epistemology is at
least as consistent and realistic as any modern
one. God is in the center of this whole book.
Not a philosophical idea of God but rather a
personal God who visits man and who has a
purpose with him. The approach determines the
division of the book. It is divided into four
parts: 1) The angle of vision, which is God’s
dealing with man in the history of the chosen
people; 2) The focus of vision, which is the
indirectness of divine self-communication, where-
by God both conceals his message and confirms
it; 3) The horizon of vision, which is the uni-
versality of God’s purpose notwithstanding its
beginning in a particular history; and 4) The
re-vision of vision, when in the coming of the
Messiah the whole purpose of God is both con-
firmed to man and seen in a new light.

Of special interest is the strong emphasis,
which the author places upon the Old Testa-
ment. This is probably more than a methodo-
logical peculiarity. The full significance that
the New Testament ascribes to Christ seems to
escape the author. Jesus seems to renew the
Old Testament revelation on a higher level,
rather than to bring to a consummation all the
incipient movements found in the history of
Israel. However, one would do injustice to this
rich and thoughtful book by measuring it with
the yardstick of an established orthodoxy. It
is the greatness and the promise of our time that
the Bible is studied afresh. We begin to realize
that the sacred formulae of ancient creeds may
sometimes form walls that keep us away from
a genuine understanding of the Word of God.
The author is anxious to grasp the Biblical
views in their strangeness and freshness. Any-
body who is willing to participate in that en-
deavor will find stimulating guidance in Dr.
Minear’s work.

Otto A. Piper

Prophecy and the Church , by Oswald
T. Allis. Presbyterian and Reformed Pub-
lishing Co., Philadelphia, 1945. Pp. ix +
339. $2.50.

Dispensationalism has become a real problem
for the church, especially with the wide circula-
tion of the Scofield Reference Bible, whose notes
have supplanted the teachings and the emphases
of the Catechism in the minds of many serious
Christians. Following the heresy trial which the
Presbyterian Church US arranged against
President Lewis I. Chafer, Dr. Allis has pro-
ceeded to a comprehensive refutation of Dispen-
sationalism. He regards three views as typical
of this group : the Parenthesis Church, the Any
Moment Coming, and the decisive role played
by the Jewish Remnant during the millennium.

The author has no difficulty in showing that
the idea of the church existing in between two
phases of Jewish history and not being related
to the latter, can be advanced only on the basis
of a completely arbitrary handling of the Bible.
The obvious inconsistencies of a Jewish millen-
nium which has no relation to the saving pur-
pose of God are also laid bare in a most con-
vincing manner. The author has some more
trouble with the idea of the Any Moment Com-
ing, and the Dispensationalist distinction of the
rapture advent and the revelation advent. Real-
izing that the problem cannot be solved upon
a purely exegetical basis he tries to minimize
this distinction by holding that the two events
will follow each other in short intervals. On the
whole, however, it can be said that Dr. Allis
has succeeded in demonstrating that Dispensa-
tionalism rests upon arbitrary exegesis.

If this learned volume will not convince many
adherents of Scofield the fault will be largely
the author’s. He seems to be unable to do jus-
tice to the facts that brought Dispensationalism
into being. He interprets this movement as
though it were a theological school rather than
a form of spiritual life. Furthermore, Dispensa-
tionalism rightly presents Christianity as an
eschatological religion. With his own amillen-
nianism, the author ignores the fact that the
Bible presents the purpose of God as being
carried out in holy history, i.e., in a sequence
of events, all of which form a whole and reveal
a common underlying dynamic. By spiritualiz-
ing most of the Old Testament prophecies the
author shares with classical orthodoxy the alle-
gorical method of interpretation, to which Darby
and his followers rightly objected. Their fault
does not lie in their literalism but rather in the
fact that they are more interested in a consis-
tent eschatology than a consistent view of the
work of salvation. Finally, while the reviewer
does not agree with the Dispensationalist view
of the Jewish millennium he finds enough evi-
dence in the New Testament to support the

42

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

belief that Judaism is destined to play a decisive
role in the ultimate phase of holy history.

Otto A. Piper

Aus Der Johannes-Apokalypse, dem
let Men Buck der Bib el, by Karl Ludwig
Schmidt. Verlag Heinrich Mayer, Basel,
1945. Pp. 61.

In the early spring of 1944, when the issue of
the war was still unsettled and neutral Switzer-
land was looking full of anxiety to the north,
Karl Ludwig Schmidt, the well-known profes-
sor of New Testament at the University of
Basel, delivered six lectures on the Apocalypse
over Radio Basel. His treatment of the enig-
matic and yet so luring last book of the Bible
made a deep impression upon the audience both
for its ingenuous handling of so difficult a sub-
ject and for the beauty of its language. I would
wish to draw the attention of our theological
publishers to this booklet for it deserves trans-
lation into English.

Professor Schmidt selects six themes from
the whole Book of Revelation, thereby practi-
cally exhausting all the major aspects of John’s
visions. The significance of his exegesis lies in
the fact that notwithstanding the author’s pro-
found scholarship the Apocalypse is interpreted
out of the context of the whole Bible. The au-
thor combines contemporary with typological
interpretation. He indicates that the book is
speaking of the conflict of the Church with the
Roman Empire but that in the struggle the
characteristic features of the whole Christian
history become manifest. With great energy he
points in every instance to the realities of hu-
man life and history that are expressed by the
oftentimes bewildering imagery of the Apoca-
lypse.

This method enables the reader to see what
the application of these visions is to the present
world situation. But the author makes it plain
that it is the eternal truth of Christ’s triumph,
not the contemporary application, that should
concern the reader in the first place. Here is a
book that will be of real help to our lay people.
It will endear to them a book which many abhor
because they do not understand it, and of which
others obviously make a wrong use. Professor
Schmidt will open their eyes to the historical
reality as it appears to the eyes of Christ.

Otto A. Piper

Berkeley Version of the New Testa-
ment, from the original Greek with brief

footnotes, by Gerrit Verkuyl. James J.
Gillick & Co., Berkeley 4, Calif., 1945.
Pp. v, 672. $3.00.

After writing eight or nine books dealing with
apologetics, Christian education, and personal
devotions, Dr. Gerrit Verkuyl, an alumnus of
Princeton Theological Seminary, set his hand
to the production of another translation of the
New Testament. His aim was to retain many of
the cherished phrases of the King James Ver-
sion while eliminating obsolete words and
phrases.

The format of the book is pleasing and con-
venient for use. It is pocket size and has clear
type in one column per page. Chapter and verse
numerals have been removed to the margin. In
the Gospels and Acts, headings on each page
supply information regarding the chronological
sequence of events. These data are in accord
with one of the generally accepted systems of
chronology. The words of direct discourse are
enclosed in quotation marks, with the exception,
oddly enough, of the words of our Lord. Ver-
kuyl’s explanation for this distinction is, “As
Christ is Himself the Word His sayings are not
in quotation marks” (p. iv). The Epistle to the
Hebrews is broken into sections and each divi-
sion is provided with a descriptive title.

The translation, so far as the reviewer has
sampled it, is ordinarily forthright and vigorous.
The following is an example, chosen at random :
“Observe this : He who sows sparingly will also
reap sparingly, while he who sows liberally
will reap also liberally. Let each one give as in
his heart he had planned, neither grudgingly
nor by compulsion; for God loves a hilarious
giver” (II Cor. 9 :6f.) . Occasionally the trans-
lation lapses into colloquial or unidiomatic Eng-
lish; for example, “[Herod] felt ugly toward
the Tyrians” (Acts 12:20), and in Rom. 3:25b
a sentence begins with “which” and so lacks a
main verb.

Almost every page is supplied with one or
more explanatory footnotes. Most of these are
characterized by sanctified common sense, al-
though occasionally the author descends to mere
moralizing. The following are samples of his
comments. At his translation of Matt. 6 :6,
“When you pray do not repeat and repeat as the
pagans do,” Verkuyl drops a footnote, “Which
applies to the words of this prayer. Too often
they are not prayed but repeated. Leaders even
say : Let us repeat the Lord’s prayer.” On Matt.
12:34 he comments, “Those thinking of Jesus
as an ever-smiling Santa Claus cannot have
read His biography carefully.” At Mark 5 :20

THE PRINCETON SEMIN ARY BULLETIN

43

he defines the Decapolis as “Ten Cities, an as-
sociation of towns mostly east of the Galilean
lake, first colonized by Greeks under Alexan-
der.” Regarding the absence of the boy Jesus
from his family in Luke 2 143, he writes, “The
boy was not tied to his mother’s apron strings.”
At Rom. 4:5 he comments, “So beautifully do
faith and behavior combine when Abraham
offers Isaac, that James refers to it as illustra-
ting works,” and at Rom. 8 :26, “All true prayer
originates from God.” In connection with his
translation of I Cor. 8:13, “Therefore if my
eating causes my brother to stumble, I shall eat
no meat forever, so that my brother shall not
be tripped up,” he observes, “In the United
States, especially in States west of Ohio, Chris-
tians, who enjoy the use of tobacco or liquor,
may well recall Paul’s considerateness.” He
notices that Jude I4f. is quoted from the Book
of Enoch. One is surprised that he looks with
some favor upon the conjectural emendation, un-
supported by any manuscript evidence, that
Enoch is referred to in I Pet. 3:19. Occasion-
ally he uses expressions or words of doubtful
taste or secondary preference. Thus, in his com-
ment on the wise and foolish virgins (Matt. 25)
he refers to them as the bride’s “girl-friends,”
and in the note to Philemon 9 he uses the form
“embassador.” Perhaps a typographical error
explains the phrase, “sympathetic cord,” in the
footnote to John 7:17.

Every translator of the New Testament must,
first of all, decide which Greek text he will fol-
low in passages where variant readings have
been preserved. If one is not a textual critic by
training he is on safer ground if he chooses a
critical text edited by a recognized scholar.
Verkuyl’s basic Greek, he says, is Tischendorf’s
text, published in 1864-72. Now, although Tisch-
endorf has had no peer in the work of collect-
ing manuscript evidence, his forte was not the
fine art of critical evaluation of the evidence
which he had so assiduously assembled. Ver-
kuyl would have done much better had he fol-
lowed Westcott and Hort’s text of 1881, Souter’s
text of 1910, von Soden’s of 1913, Vogel’s of
1920, Merk’s of 1933, or Nestle’s of 1936 (16th
edition). But, not only did Verkuyl choose a
rather antiquated critical text, he also has dis-
carded the critical gains of even this text in
favor of certain readings in the unreliable textus
receptus of the Middle Ages, upon which the
King James translators had perforce to rely.
(This is the exegesis of the cryptic and un-
grammatical sentence in the Preface : “Also,
of course, the Authorized Version, most words
of which, not found in early Greek manuscripts,

are shown in parentheses [in the Berkeley ver-
sion]”).

Although it is unpleasant to do so, the re-
viewer must call attention to a breach of pro-
fessional etiquette of which the translator is
guilty. On the title page, following his name,
there stands the identifying phrase, “New Tes-
tament Fellow of Princeton.” Many a reader,
seeing “Princeton,” will think that Verkuyl
refers to the University, although the Univer-
sity has never had a New Testament fellow.
Furthermore it is rather ingenuous for Dr.
Verkuyl to call himself a New Testament fel-
low without supplying a qualifying adverb such
as “formerly” or “sometime,” for there have
been about forty New Testament fellows since
he was granted the annual fellowship in 1904.

Unlike the recently published Revised Stand-
ard Version, produced by a group of scholars,
the Berkeley Version is the work of a single
man. Obviously there is always an advantage
in having one’s work checked by one’s collabo-
rators. On the other hand, any Christian scholar
is free to publish his own translation of the
Scriptures in the hope that he may set forth the
treasures of the Word of God in a new and
vital manner for certain readers who may have
never used a modern English rendering of the
Scriptures, or who, for one reason or another,
may be prejudiced against the Revised Standard
Version. Such readers can profit from Verkuyl’s
conscientious and consecrated labor embodied in
the Berkeley Version. They should remember,
however, that, like the private translations made
by Weymouth, Moffatt, Goodspeed, Spencer,
and others, this translation does not pretend to
be a version sponsored by the Church and there-
fore should not be read from the pulpit.

Bruce M. Metzger

New T estament Life and Literature , by
Donald W. Riddle and Harold H. Hutson.
The University of Chicago Press, Chi-
cago, 1946. Pp. 263. $3.00.

The authors of this book attempt an ambitious
undertaking. They put within two covers ma-
terial relating to New Testament history, New
Testament introduction, and New Testament
Biblical theology. Of these three areas, the sec-
ond receives the fullest treatment, and the third
receives the scantiest treatment. Riddle and
Hutson, who not many years ago were in the
relationship of professor and graduate student
at the University of Chicago, stand in the tradi-
tion of Shailer Matthews and Shirley Jackson
Case. When this is known it becomes perfectly

44

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

obvious why their treatment of the historical
background of the New Testament is so much
more satisfactory than their interpretation of
the distinctively Christian elements within the
New Testament. In reading their book one is
struck by the truth in the Apostle Paul’s pro-
nouncement, “The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him : neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned” (I Cor.
2:14).

By manipulating two sieves, or, as the au-
thors prefer to call them, techniques of Gospel
investigation (pp. 67!) — namely, the test of con-
gruity with the presumed environment (popu-
larized by Case), and the improper use of form-
criticism as substantiating historical judgments
— the authors succeed in straining out of the
Gospel narratives all the genuinely miraculous
elements in the life of Jesus. The resulting
“historical” Jesus differs in no wise from any
other first century Jewish prophet, and it is
difficult to see how he could have established
a religion. His message and meaning were dis-
torted by the early Church, and Pauline Chris-
tianity became a salvation cult quite similar to
contemporary mystery religions. We cannot
know precisely how the early Church grew, for
Acts is an “idealized story of Christianity’s rise
and expansion” (p. 53). Ephesians, the Pas-
torals, I and II Peter, the Letters of John, and
Jude were all written after their reputed au-
thors had died — some of them quite long after.
In the Appendix entitled, “The Leading Ideas
in the New Testament,” Hutson deals with
matters pertaining to Biblical theology in a
manner that resembles similar treatments of a
generation or more ago. Unlike many recent
studies of this material, he emphasizes the di-
versity of doctrine within the New Testament
and is blind to its unity.

The chapters which Riddle writes on the
Hellenistic age, Judaism, the Gentile religious
background, and the text and translation of the
New Testament are characterized by great
clarity and ability to hold the reader’s attention.
But even here Riddle is not above reproach as
regards details. Thus, he refers to the First
Commandment as prohibiting Jewish art (p.
17). He dates “the fall of the Temple and the
Jewish nation in the rebellion of 132 A.D.” (p.
27, where the unsuspecting reader would not
know that the fall was actually in 135). Again,
the Council of Nicea is erroneously dated (p.
201). He refers to “the Chester Beatty Papy-
rus” (p. 214), as though Mr. Beatty owned only
one. He is in error when he states (ibid.) that

there are some two thousand manuscripts of
the entire New Testament lacking the book of
Revelation (actually there are not a tenth of
this number). From his statement regarding
“some sporadic translation [of the New Testa-
ment] into the German . . . vernacular” prior
to Luther’s translation (p. 216), it is clear that
he is unaware of the fact that Luther’s work
was preceded by at least eighteen printed edi-
tions of the complete German Bible.

Bruce M. Metzger

The Epistles of St. Clement of Rome
and St. Ignatius of Antioch, newly trans-
lated and annotated by James A. Kleist,
S.J. The Newman Bookshop, Westmin-
ster, Md., 1946. Pp. ix, 162. $2.50.

Two professors at the Catholic University of
America, Johannes Quasten, who was trained
under the celebrated F. J. Dolger, and Joseph j
C. Plumpe, a student of Quasten’s, have under-
taken to edit a monumental collection of the
chief works of the most important Church Fa-
thers, whether of Greek, Latin, Syriac, Coptic,
Armenian, or Arabic provenience. The series,
entitled Ancient Christian Writers, the Works
of the Fathers in Translation , is expected to
embrace about seventy volumes and will offer
many texts which heretofore have not appeared
in English translation and a few texts which
have been discovered only in recent decades.
Surprisingly enough, although there have been
several series of the Fathers in English edited
by Anglican and Protestant scholars, there has
been no series in English sponsored by Roman
Catholic scholars. (

The volume which initiates this collection con-
tains, quite appropriately, the oldest patristic f
documents which Christianity possesses, the
Epistle of Clement of Rome, written about A.D.

96, and the seven Epistles of Ignatius of An-
tioch, written in the early part of the second
decade of the second Christian century. For the
task of translating and annotating these epistles
the general editors have secured the expert
services of James A. Kleist, S.J., the veteran
Professor of Classical Languages at St. Louis
University. Kleist writes brief, crisply phrased
introductions to each of the ancient authors,
supplying the basic information necessary for a
biographic and literary appreciation of their
writings.

The translation is fresh and straightforward.

It is phrased more in the vernacular than is the
careful, almost literalistic rendering made by

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

45

J. B. Lightfoot in his memorable edition of
these two Fathers, and is more accurate than
Kirsopp Lake’s translation in the Loeb Classical
Library. Kleist has caught something of the
balanced dignity of Clement’s diction as well
as something of the succinct and highly original
flavor of the Syrian Father. The translator of
the latter, indeed, is hard put to it to render the
Ignatian brevitas while avoiding his obscuritas,
and Kleist prefers to err, if it is to err, on the
side of making a readable, though perforce
occasionally periphrastic, version.

The reader may ask, Are Father Kleist’s
comments objective or do they reflect a Roman
bias? Occasionally one can detect an ultramon-
tane Tendenz. Thus, more than one gratuitous
interpretation is involved in the statement, “Just
as Ignatius takes for granted that the Church
has ‘one altar’ ( iv Ov<n cHrrripiov) and, conse-
quently, one ‘sacrifice,’ so Clement describes the
chief function of Church officials as that of
‘offering gifts of the faithful’ (irpoa^epopTes ra
8wpa )” (p. 7). Again Kleist makes the ques-
tionable assertion regarding Ignatius, “To him
the term ‘Catholic Church’ conveyed the same
meaning as at the present day” (p. 142). It must
be confessed, however, that on the whole the
editor draws restrained and fair judgments on
mooted points. To take two examples, he resists
committing the enticing anachronism of calling
Clement the pope of Rome, referring to him
merely as the bishop. Nor does he press the in-
terpretation that Ignatius, in the preface of his
Epistle to the Romans, alludes to the primacy
of the bishop of Rome; the editor justly con-
cludes, “The true meaning of the celebrated
phrase [‘presiding in love’] is still an open
question” (p. 134, note 2).

Kleist is in error when, in discussing Clem-
ent’s use of the word “presbyter” (pp. 6f.), he
refers to the passage in 42.4; he must mean
44.5. An index of English and Greek words
completes this useful book.

Bruce M. Metzger

The Resurrection of Christ: An Essay
in Biblical Theology, by A. Michael Ram-
say. Westminster Press, Philadelphia,
1946. Pp. 194. $1.00.

Here is a book that drives home the central
message of the Bible, a message which the peo-
ple of our generation so deeply need. The author,
who is the Professor of Divinity in the Univer-
sity of Durham and Canon of Durham Cathe-
dral, maintains that all New Testament theology

and ethics begin with the Resurrection. Calvary
and the Resurrection are the center of the Gos-
pel. The Cross did not come as a prelude to the
Resurrection nor is the Resurrection the finale
of Calvary. But in the blending of these two
events we see that “Life through death” is the
principle of the whole life of Jesus. It is the
essence of the Christian’s life and the revelation
of the Eternal God. The crucifixion-resurrection
teaches us that perfection does not come by
precept or example. It comes by a personal
union with Christ — a sharing of His death and
resurrection.

The earliest Christian sermons dwell upon the
death and resurrection of Jesus and say nothing
of His preceding life and ministry. Later the
whole story of His life was told not as biog-
raphy but as the drama of God’s act as deliv-
erer. In the Gospel of John this is particularly
evident for here the light of Easter shines back
upon the life of Jesus and the reader feels that
this light is never absent from the story.

Canon Ramsay defends convincingly the
statement that the appearance of the Risen
Christ to His disciples was not a mystical but
an external vision. Saul of Tarsus who had had
mystical experiences distinguishes those from
his vision of the Risen Christ. The author points
out the difference between the philosophical be-
lief in the immortality of the soul and the resur-
rection. The life of a soul without a body would
be difficult to imagine. In the Christian there
will be identity and continuity similar to that
which the disciples found in the body of the
Risen Christ.

We see therefore the central place which this
message of the Resurrection must ever hold in
the Christian Gospel. It is the Cross and the
Resurrection — “Life through death.” This is a
book which both preachers and laymen will find
of value, for it brings home the very essence
of the Gospel Message.

Frank Sergeant Niles

Guilt and Redemption, by Lewis Joseph
Sherrill. John Knox Press, Richmond,
Va., 1945. Pp. 254. $2.50.

In the Sprunt Lectures for 1945, Dr. Sherrill,
the Dean and Professor of Religious Education
in the Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, deals
with one of our most urgent contemporary
human problems : Guilt and its abnormal out-
comes in individual and collective experience.
Dr. Sherrill makes it clear that Christianity
offers not only the most penetrating diagnosis,

4 6

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

but also the most constructive cure for human
guilt. Psychology and psychiatry may offer
significant insights into the nature and varieties
of human behavior, but they can never take the
place of religion. For this reason the Bible and
theology are fertile resources upon which to
draw. The significance of Dr. Sherrill’s contri-
bution is enhanced by the fact that he happily
combines a rich clinical knowledge of psychol-
ogy, with an expert and practical understanding
of Biblical theology. During the preparation of
these lectures he was aided by his wife, who is
a psychiatric social worker, beside a number of
eminent psychiatrists, and several colleagues of
the Louisville faculty. The book is thus the re-
sult of cooperative enterprise.

In the first chapter entitled, “Where is the
Battleground?” the author examines the basic
problem of conflict, in a historical perspective,
by tracing the classic answers which ancient
religions and philosophies have offered in their
attempt to determine the ultimate responsibility
for human suffering and evil. The second chap-
ter reviews what modern psychology has to say
concerning questions of guilt and its cure. Three
successive chapters analyze guilt as fact and
feeling, the outcroppings of guilt, and the re-
lease from guilt. These chapters are notable for
their carefully-selected and well-told accounts
of individual cases drawn from clinical experi-
ence. The closing chapters, entitled respectively,
the Cross of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, and
The Body of Christ, show how Christianity
offers genuine healing to the afflicted. “Chris-
tianity is a breath-taking religion when one
senses the enormous sweep of its conceptions,
the depth of its insights and the daring of its
proposals” (p. 160). Dr. Sherrill makes these
conceptions, insights, and proposals luminous by
a fresh examination of the Biblical vocabulary
which has a bearing on guilt and its cure. What
makes the Christian faith always relevant to
human need and to human experience is the
fact that it offers men actual freedom from guilt,
anxiety, and conflict. This it does by enabling
men who are imprisoned in guilt from which
they cannot escape by themselves, to enter into
a new dynamic relationship which transcends
the trouble-producing relation from which they
have suffered. This dynamic relation is found
only in Christ.

The concrete illustrations sketched from real
life, as told by the author, not only awaken and
maintain the interest of the reader, but they
offer instructive instances of diagnosis and treat-
ment which have a very practical value for those
who are engaged in the cure of souls. Christian

ministers and social workers and all personal
counsellors will find this restatement of the
Christian gospel and its redeeming adequacy
invaluable in their work.

Howard Tillman Kuist

They Have Found a Faith, by Marcus
Bach. Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indian-
apolis and New York, 1946. Pp. 300.
$3.00.

For some years Dr. Marcus Bach, a pro-
fessor in the School of Religion at the Univer-
sity of Iowa, has been deeply interested in the
so-called “cults” of latter-day America. In this
book he gives a lively and interesting account
of his researches — “ramblings on the roads to
glory,” as he calls them — among eight of the
best-known of these groups, namely, Jehovah’s
Witnesses, The Foursquare Gospel, Spiritual-
ism, The Oxford Group, Father Divine’s “King-
doms,” The Baha’i Faith, Unity, and Psychiana.

This book has much to recommend it. For
one thing, it is brightly written, with consum-
mate journalistic skill — as might be expected
from one who obtained his doctor’s degree in
creative writing, but as certainly is all too rare
among religious books. Again, the author has
carried out his investigations in the most thor-
oughgoing fashion, so as to get at the essential
core of each cult which he has examined. More-
over, his attitude towards these sects is com-
mendably objective and impartial: he has come
to the consideration of them, not as a captious
critic, but rather with a genuine desire to under-
stand and learn.

Several reflections are suggested by a reading
of this book. I. These cults are very widespread
in their influence. According to Dr. Bach, their
followers are drawn from the following sources
— one million every ten years from the regular
churches, and another million from the dis-
organized ranks of those whom the churches
pass by. The fact that these groups are able to
influence so large a proportion of the popula-
tion of the United States, and the fact that they
have begun to extend their operations abroad,
would seem to indicate that they have become
a relatively permanent part of the American
religious scene.

II. They have been most successful in their
propagandist campaigns. Practically all of them
employ with astuteness and efficiency all the
best modern propaganda techniques, especially
house-to-house visitation, the printing press, and
the radio. There can be little doubt that to such

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

47

assiduous and extensive propaganda, much of
their present influence is due.

III. The basis of the successful appeal of these
cults to such a large clientele appears to lie in
this, that they all — in different ways, to be sure,
offer some technique, allegedly coming straight
from God Himself, for meeting and overcoming
life’s difficulties, material and emotional as well
as strictly spiritual.

It is, of course, very easy for members of the
regular Protestant churches to criticize these
new sects — for their assumption of infallibility,
the irrationality and absurdity of some of their
beliefs, the fact that their leaders do so well
financially as to make the best of at least this
world. But it would be more fruitful and profit-
able for such church members to ask themselves
this question : what is it that these cults have
that the old-line churches do not seem to have?.
It may be that in seeking to answer this ques-
tion, the regular churches would learn some-
thing that would make their own message more
vital and effective in present-day America.

Norman V. Hope

Great Christian Books , by Hugh Mar-
tin. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia,
1946. Pp. 1 18. $1.50.

In this volume Dr. Hugh Martin, Editor of
the S.C.M. Press in Great Britain, discusses
seven classic works, all of which purport to de-
scribe and illustrate the Christian life. These
works are Augustine’s “Confessions,” Samuel
Rutherfurd’s “Letters,” Brother Lawrence’s
“Practice of the Presence of God,” John Bun-
yan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress,” William Law’s
“Serious Call,” William Carey’s “Enquiry into
the Obligations of Christians to use Means for
the Conversion of the Heathens,” and Robert
Browning’s “Ring and the Book.” These works
were written at different times in Christian
history: the earliest, Augustine’s “Confessions,”
dates from the early fifth century, while the
most recent, Browning’s dramatic monologue,
is a nineteenth century production. The authors
of these works vary widely in their churchman-
ship : Augustine and Brother Lawrence were
devout Roman Catholics, Samuel Rutherfurd
was a Scottish Presbyterian of the Covenanting
school, Bunyan and Carey were English Bap-
tists, Law was a non-juring Anglican, while
Browning, though brought up under noncon-
formist auspices, sat loose to any kind of sec-
tarian affiliation. Composed by such differing
men at such different times, these works inevi-

tably differ in form, in style, and even, to some
extent, in content. But they are all at one in
their witness to the grace of God in Jesus
Christ, which alone makes a man a Christian;
in their intense insistence that the Christian life,
if it is to be properly lived, demands self-sacri-
fice; and in their testimony to the fact that a
life lived for God in Christ, no matter what
difficulties may confront it, is a joyful victory.

The object of Dr. Martin in publishing these
studies was, of course, to send his readers back
to the works themselves. In the judgment of the
present reviewer, his interesting and balanced
treatment is well calculated to achieve this
obj ect.

Norman Victor Hope

The Theology of John Wesley, by Wil-
liam R. Cannon. Abingdon-Cokesbury,
New York, 1946. Pp. 273. $2.50.

The very title of this important book may
cause some to smile, for John Wesley has not
been generally taken seriously as a theologian
even by those who have taken his name. This
obviously is a superficial view of the great
evangelical preacher, and it is high time that
a thoroughgoing analysis of Wesley’s theologi-
cal presuppositions be attempted. The author is
well qualified for this task; he is Assistant Pro-
fessor of Church History at Emory University,
and he has mastered all the important and vo-
luminous writings of his subject as well as much
relevant material relating to Reformation and
post-Reformation thought.

The book is divided into two parts, the first —
in six chapters — dealing with “The Develop-
ment and Formulation of the Doctrine of Jus-
tification,” and the second — in four chapters —
treating the “Theological and Ethical Concepts
Arising from the Doctrine of Justification.”
This division of the theme indicates that for
Professor Cannon justification by faith is the
clue and the key to Wesley’s theology. Although
this may surprise those who have always as-
sociated “perfectionism” with Wesley’s unique
distinction as a religious thinker, the emphasis
on justification serves to relate Wesley wit!
Luther and Calvin, and this is a most necessan
and enlightening approach.

The discussion is not burdened by the weight
of biographical detail, though the author utilizes
such incidents as Wesley’s Georgia experiment
and the Aldersgate experience of 1738 to point
up the significance of Wesley’s changing theo-
logical views. For example, it is shown that

48

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

Wesley moved from the ambiguous synergism
of eighteenth century Anglicanism, with its em-
phasis upon God’s grace and man’s responsibil-
ity, to a more consistent Reformation definition
of justification as God’s free grace. The influ-
ence of the Moravians in general and of Zinzen-
dorf in particular is duly acknowledged, and the
author takes pains to show the close parallelism
between Wesley at this point and the Reform-
ers.

Obviously, however, Wesley and the Reform-
ers, particularly Calvin, parted company on
some basic points. For Calvin, according to
Dr. Cannon, God’s grace was restricted and
limited, while for Wesley it was free for all.
This distinction is not minimized and is seen
to be the point of departure for much of the
Calvinistic-Arminian disputes of later days.

But the fundamental thesis of the book is
somewhat problematical in the light of the short
but provocative conclusion which intimates that
Wesley took justification by faith as “the in-
dispensable means to holiness.” Thus, man is
justified by God’s free grace which in turn en-
ables him to become holy in order to deserve
his salvation. This surely is not what the Re-
formers meant by justification, and it leaves
the reader wondering, therefore, if justification
(rather than holiness or perfectionism) is after
all the essence of Wesley’s theology.

Apart, however, from criticisms which can
be made, this book deserves a wide reading.
Methodists owe it to themselves and to their
progenitor to grapple with these theological is-
sues, and non-Methodists will gain a new in-
sight and appreciation for Wesley. One can
safely predict that this volume will become a
classic source on the subject and has, accord-
ingly, something more than transitory or con-
temporary significance.

Hugh Thomson Kerr, Jr.

Religion in America, by Willard L.
Sperry. Macmillan, New York, 1946. Pp.
305. $2.50.

The reading of this book will enable us, in
a familiar phrase, “To see oursel’s as others
see us!” The author, who is the well known
Dean of the Harvard Divinity School, was in-
vited a year ago by the Cambridge (England)
University Press to prepare a volume on the
American religious scene as one in a series of
studies for British readers on the general theme,
“American Life and Institutions.” The book
was so well received that it was not long before
a demand for an American edition was raised

by many in this country who wanted to know
what Dean Sperry was telling his British friends
about American religion.

This is an opportunity, therefore, not only
to check on the accuracy of this report but also
to gain a fresh survey of our complicated re-
ligious history by seeing it recounted in an ele-
mentary fashion for those who may be hearing
it for the first time. The plan of the book is
simple but comprehensive. It begins and ends
with certain general reflections of rare value
and suggestiveness. The bulk of the discussion
is divided into chapters on Colonial religion,
the Church and the State, Denominations, the
Sects, Theology, Religious Education, the Ne-
gro Churches, Catholicism, and Church Union.
There are also eight Appendices of a statistical
and technical nature that give this study sub- '
stance and authority.

In many respects, the most important section
of Dean Sperry’s analysis has to do with the
traditional American principle of the separation
of Church and State. This, it will be recognized,
is not only a unique feature of American re-
ligious life but an unusually difficult subject to
present in an understandable way to British
readers. The author shows the reasons for our
principle of separation (in large part it was a
practical expedient rather than a theological pre-
supposition), and while appreciative of its con-
sequent values, he also indicates certain em-
barrassing and unfortunate implications which
have come to plague both our political and re-
ligious life. No religious subject is of more
contemporary importance than this particular
issue, and these chapters alone are well worth
serious study.

A word may be said of the literary character
of this report. The style is free, conversational,
intimate, and pleasing. One reads here familiar
historical subjects described with such urbane I
understanding that they are lifted out of the
usual academic and historical level and made
fascinating and profitable. The discussion is
punctuated at frequent intervals with humorous J
and anecdotal asides which make the record
live and sparkle. The theological approach is,
as one might expect, not extreme or indeed j
even clearly defined, and for some this may be
a weakness of the book. On the controversial
matters of theology and history, Dean Sperry
makes no pretense of original solution but con-
tents himself with the best secondary sources
and the desire to mediate, adjudicate, and inform
those who wish to learn the basic rudiments of
our American religious heritage.

Hugh Thomson Kerr, Jr.

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

49

Priesthood in Action, by Wallace E.
Conkling, Bishop of Chicago. Morehouse-
Gorham, New York, 1945* $2.00.

Two of the ablest books about parish leader-
ship come from Anglo-Catholic divines. The
other volume, Parish Administration, is by
Don F. Fenn, a rector in Baltimore. A reading
of Bp. Conkling’s work will show why he op-
posed union with us Presbyterians. The read-
ing will likewise bring out principles that un-
dergird parish work where the theology is more
distinctly Protestant.

One of the ablest sections deals with Holy
Matrimony. Here the Bishop discusses “Things
that Wreck Marriage” : Money, or the lack
of it; Family Interference, by the in-laws; and
Religion, especially marriage with a Romanist.
He also sets forth “Things that Help to Make
a Marriage” : Being Play-mates, Work-mates,
and Worship-mates. The suggestions about men’s
work seem equally sane, and somewhat novel.

Presbyterian pastors should read with care
what the Bishop says about the need for public
services at different hours every week: “Many
clergy are content with much too small a num-
ber of regular weekly services. It is not possible
to provide for the needs of the congregation by
two services on Sunday, one at eight (a.m.)
and one at eleven, and one mid-week communion
on Wednesday or Thursday at ten.” Again,
“People too rarely find the clergy at prayer in
church.”

In short, the Bishop would have excelled as
a professor of practical theology. He can say
much in little. For instance, with reference to
women’s guilds, “Many parish quarrels have
originated in the parish house, and few before
the Altar of God.” What he says accords with
his theology, which is not always my own. Still
I wish that most of his practical counsels would
prevail in many a parish where the work suf-
fers for lack of wise leadership.

Andrew W. Blackwood

The Public Worship of God, by Henry
Sloan Coffin. Westminster Press, Phila-
delphia, 1946. Pp. 205 plus index. $2.00.

The president emeritus of Union Theological
Seminary, New York, has given us the fruit
of his rich and mature thought upon public
worship in this source book. The volume is
frankly written for “those in the tradition of
the Reformed Churches. That tradition,” writes
Dr. Coffin, “is both Catholic and Evangelical.

It embraces the worship of the early Church,
East and West, and that of the medieval Church
to the Reformation, when the effort was made
to cleanse it from corruption by submitting it
to the Word of God.” That tradition was re-
shaped by the Reformers, and somewhat impov-
erished by their successors.

Dr. Coffin indicates the criteria by which true
Reformed worship may be restored. Quoting
Dr. R. S. Simpson with evident approval, he
continues, “The Presbyterian Church has a great
opportunity today to serve the Catholic Church
of God. We have much to learn concerning
worship, but we have this to give in the discus-
sion of the problem, that our tradition in wor-
ship is the combination of reverence and free-
dom, and that we are in a position to take ad-
vantage of the gains that come from spontaneity
in worship and from the form and order of a
dignified liturgy.” This book is a humble attempt
to help sister Churches to improve this oppor-
tunity to serve the Catholic Church of Christ,
and “to render their worship more worthy of
Him to whom it is offered.”

The first chapter presents a high conception
of worship as “the awed and glad spontaneous
response of the spirit of man confronted by the
God of Christian revelation — the God of crea-
tion and redemption.” Following this grand in-
troduction to the subject, Dr. Coffin discusses
the theological bases of worship, the story of
the various rituals, the place of the ritual and
ceremonial in worship, the composition of pub-
lic prayers, and the place of the Word and
Sacrament in worship. Two chapters deal with
children and worship, and Church union and
worship.

There are many interesting issues raised in
this book about ceremonial, preaching, the Sac-
raments, Church architecture, the composition
of prayers, hymn selection and singing, choral
music in worship, and other matters.

Dr. Coffin treats these issues with a firm
straightforwardness which is based upon sound
knowledge and a sense of what is right. He
objects, for instance, to solos in public worship.
He does not like the word “auditorium” used
for the sanctuary. He objects to an altar in a
Reformed Church, or a Communion table placed
against the wall in connection with a reredos.
Choir music is in many congregations a “serious
menace” to common worship, for it is often
showy and sensational. He does not like the
words of the hymns placed between the bars
of music in our hymnals. He favors shorter
“pastoral” prayers and sermons that are a part
of worship. His chapter on children and worship

50

THE PRINCETON SEMINAR Y BULLETIN

contains an excellent list of suggestions for
children’s sermons. Dr. Coffin feels strongly
that the little ones ought to come to worship,
and that sermons for them can be made inter-
esting for them — as well as for their parents.
His final appeal is for the Church to recover its
own solidarity. “Public worship, when through
the congregation present, the Church Universal
offers itself to God and receives Him in His
fullness, is always a reminder that it is His will
and the prayer of Christ that His followers
should be manifestly one that the world may
believe in Him.”

The treatment of worship is authoritative
and scholarly. The author is writing about a
theme which is dear to his heart, and upon
which he is a master. The expression is warm
and contagious. Any pastor who reads this book
will want to make the divine services which
he conducts genuine and orderly. In the light j
of this high conception of worship one wonders
how much worship there is in the evangelical
Churches of our country.

E. G. Homrighausen

CHANGES OF ADDRESS

The best way to keep the Bulletin mail-
ing list up to date is for each Alumnus to
send to the Seminary a notice of his
change of address. A brief statement in
reference to his change of pastorate or
other work would be helpful in making

the Alumni Notes more interesting. While
it is not possible to give details regarding
the activities of each Alumnus, classmates
are always glad to read the brief items
in the Alumni Notes and the Seminary
urges the Alumni to cooperate.

SUMMER TERM

It has been decided not to continue the
Summer Term, which has been held dur-
ing most of the war period and also dur-
ing the summer of 1946. However, in
compliance with the request made by a
large group of war veterans, a twelve
week session will be held extending from
May 27 to August 15, during which time

a course in the Elements of Hebrew will
be taught. The class, under the direction
of Dr. Charles T. Fritsch, and employing
the inductive method, will meet twice a
day. The men will read, think, eat, sleep
and drink Hebrew and complete a full
year’s course in twelve weeks.

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

5i

BOOKS RECEIVED

By Unknown Ways, by W. G. Branch.
The Westminster Press, Philadelphia,
1946. Pp. 172. $1.50.

The author is a Londoner who for over forty
years was in the Baptist Ministry in the Mid-
lands of England. In this little book he presents
the records of people who have soared above
the barriers of painful handicaps, and by so do-
ing have enabled countless others to live more
abundantly.

The Life and Work of George Irving ,
Edited by David R. Porter. Associated
Press, New York, 1945. Pp. 146.

A collection of contributions from many col-
leagues of the late George Irving, this book
is a tribute from friends who acknowledge Ir-
ving’s services to the Student Association Move-
ment, the Y.M.C.A., and other organizations.
Among the authors of the volume are John R.
Mott, William J. Hutchins, Robert E. Speer,
Otto A. Piper, and Samuel McCrea Cavert.

Vedanta for the Western World, Ed-
ited by Christopher Isherwood. The Mar-
cel Rodd Co., Hollywood, 1945. $3.75.

Contributors to this volume include Gerald
Heard, Aldous Huxley, Swami Prabhavananda,
Frederick Manchester, Guido Ferrando, Chris-
topher Wood, John Van Druten, Swami Vive-
kananda, the editor, and others. The core of
the teaching here presented may be summed up
as a philosophy which accepts all religions. It
is a form of Vedanta, based in the Vedas, to
which the group of participating intellectuals
give their adherence.

Key to Japan, by Willard Price. The
John Day Company, New York, 1946.

pp- 3 ° 9 - $3-50-

With more than a hundred sketches, and in
direct style, the author tells what the Army Oc-
cupation in Japan, as well as Americans at
home, need to know, if Japan is to be made a
safe neighbor for the future.

My Africa, by Mbonu Ojike. The John
Day Company, New York, 1946. Pp. 350.
$ 3 - 75 -

Africa is revealed here by light from within
by a young Nigerian student in the United
States. He tells of his own life, and the cus-
toms, the ancient culture, and the new hopes of
the African peoples. The first part of the book
is autobiographical, the second, a clear and
rounded picture of Africa, its background and
political aspirations.

The Sikhs, by John Clark Archer.
Princeton University Press, 1946. Pp.
353 - $ 3 - 75 -

This study of the Sikhs, in their relation to
Hindus, Moslems, and Christians, is from the
pen of the Professor of Comparative Religion
in Yale University. The author’s knowledge of
India’s religions and cultures, and his long
years of teaching in America have enabled him
to write a distinguished book in the field. A
dozen excellent photographs, a new translation
of Nanak’s book of psalms, and intimate knowl-
edge of the source material shed lustre on the
volume.

Heirs of the Prophets, by Samuel M.
Zwemer. Moody Press, Chicago, 1946.
Pp. 137. $2.00.

This is a study of the religious leaders of
the Moslem world by the Professor of the His-
tory of Religion and Christian Missions, Emeri-
tus, Princeton Theological Seminary. The eight-
een illustrations show conditions prevailing in
the Islamic countries where loss of political in-
fluence often leads those in religious control to
tighten their “priestly” grip on the people.

The Messenger: The Life of Moham-
med, by R. V. C. Bodley. Doubleday and
Company, Inc., New York, 1946. Pp. 368.
$3.00.

The author has written a biography of Mo-
hammed for the nonspecialist. He has tried to
tell the story in a manner that conforms to mod-
ern biographical technique. He has been in-
spired more by his observations in the Islamic
world, and in desert life, than by standard books
of reference. The result is a book more read-
able than it is reliable.

52

THE PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN

India Today — An Introduction To In-
dian Politics, by Raleigh Parkin. The
John Day Company, New York, 1946.
Pp- 387- $3-75-

The author’s aim is to provide an elementary-
introduction to Indian politics. The social, eco-
nomic, and governmental structure, the politi-
cal groupings, the Indian states, and India’s
external relations are treated.

The Source of Human Good, by Henry
N. Wieman. The University of Chicago
Press, Chicago, 1946. Pp. 312. $3.50.

The underlying thought by which this volume
is governed is that human good springs from
the relationship of man to his fellows and to his
environment. The propositions formulated are
in keeping with the trends prevailing in modern
naturalism. The author is Professor of Chris-
tian Theology at the University of Chicago.

Edward J. Jurji

1

CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

With the exception of two, the articles
in this issue of the Bulletin were written
by members of the faculty. “The Church,
Preaching and Theology” was the address
delivered by Dr. Bela Vasady at the Sum-
mer Commencement of the Seminary in
August, 1946.

Bela Vasady is Professor of Dogmatic
Theology at the Reformed Theological
Seminary, Debrecen, Hungary. He has
been Visiting Lecturer in Theology at the
Seminary during the first term of the cur-
rent year. Dr. Vasady is an alumnus of
Princeton Seminary, having received the

degree of Master of Theology here in
1925. He is a member of the Administra-
tive Committee of the Evangelical Church
in Hungary, and is touring the United
States in behalf of that Church.

“Our High Calling” was the address
given by Dr. Stuart Nye Hutchison at
the opening of the Seminary in Septem-
ber, 1946. Dr. Hutchison is pastor of the
East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Pitts-
burgh, Pennsylvania. He is a Trustee of
the Seminary and a former Moderator of
the General Assembly.